Luster The Cat
by UltraQuest
Summary: Join the adventures of Luster the Cat, who suffered through a devastating loss, and managed to find foster parents in the form of Sonic the Hedgehog, and Miles Prower. How will Sonic and Tails deal with Luster? PS: Luster is my creation. Don't steal, please.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Sonic, Tails, and Doctor Robotnik, all belong to SEGA, and all Sonic the Hedgehog content. Luster the Cat, however, is owned by me. If anybody uses that character without my permission, then I will do something about it.

* * *

"Aggh! Not again!" Doctor Robotnik exclaimed, shaking his fist at an animal whilst in his destroyed mech. The animal in question was a hedgehog. The blue hedgehog saw the evil doctor's fustration, and decided to taunt him. "Sorry Robotnik, but I couldn't let you take over the world!" the hedgehog mocked, running away from the room in which he had just fought his enemy. Due to the hedgehog being born with a natural fast speed, he accidently fell out of the building that he was in, instead of just slowing down. "Whoa! Ahhh!" the hedgehog cried, falling from Dr. Robotnik's space station: the Death Egg. Just as the hedgehog entered his homeplanet's atmosphere, a young fox that was piloting a plane arrived.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" the fox asked, as Sonic landed on the plane. He was desperate to know if his friend was okay.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Tails. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't okay, now would I?" Sonic answered, breathing in and out.

Tails thought for a moment. "I guess so. But where will we go now?" the yellow-orange fox asked, making sure the plane didn't have any sort of technical failure.

"Hmm..." Sonic said, deep in thought. "Let's head to the Mystic Ruins. My home's there."

"The Mystic Ruins? You live there?" Tails asked, shocked for some reason.

"Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?" Sonic answered.

Tails paused for a moment, and then said, "Because back on Westside Island, the guys kept talking about it. They had said that it was a deserted ruin, but I never really believed them. I think they were trying to start up a scary story, but I turned away before they could tell me more. But to hear that the place actually exists.."

"Yeah?"

"Well, it's odd. What's Mystic Ruins like? Is it a scary place?"

"No, of course not. It's a really cool place to live, though I keep going out for runs everyday."

_So they weren't telling me any lies... _Tails thought. He felt absolutely speechless at this moment, that his own intelligence got the better of him.

"You okay, buddy?" Sonic asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm okay...It's just a bit too much to take." Tails replied. "Alright, so which way is Mystic Ruins?"

"I don't exactly know. Could you lower the plane so I can see the ground?"

Tails did exactly what his friend had wanted him to do, only to find that they were just above a part of Westside Island, which was Tails' homeplace, which had been nicknamed Emerald Hill, after it's copius amounts of steep hills. When Sonic could get a clear view of the area, the memory of him first running in the area sparked up in his mind. He figured that the way he was running into Emerald Hill was the precise direction that his home was located. "Yeah, that way." he said, pointing in the direction that he remembered. After a while, he and Tails arrived at the Mystic Ruins, and could easily see Sonic's home. "There's a runway over there, in the middle of those palm trees."

"Got it." Tails replied, turning the plane around and making it move towards the runway. Before long, the plane was parked neatly on the runway

"Excellent landing, Tails!" Sonic praised, pleased that his plane did not get damaged.

"Thanks, Sonic." Tails replied. The pair of them then jumped off of the plane, and Sonic led the way towards the front door of the house. He then opened the door, and made space so Tails could come in. Sonic closed the door once his friend had entered the house.

"Wow, this place is awesome!" Tails blurted out, surprised at the interior of the house. The walls were painted white, and looked like it hadn't been re-painted in a long time. Despite this, Tails still thought highly of it all.

"You really think that this is awesome? It's quite dirty, you know." Sonic stated. He had no idea why Tails thought his home was awesome. It was a complete wreck! Windows were broken, and so were mostly everything else.

"Yeah! I've never really been in a house like this before, so it's my first time." Tails told Sonic.

"Oh, okay then. That makes sense. I've got beds here, but I only use them when it's wet outside. I usually sleep on the roof."

"You sleep on the roof? Is it comfortable?"

"The beds, or the roof?"

"The roof."

"Oh. Yeah, the roof's pretty comfortable, but sometimes the wood gets in my way, and makes my sleep a bit rough."

"Ouch. In that case, I think I prefer the beds. Are they comfortable?"

"Yeah, they're pretty darn comfortable, though they haven't been used in a long time."

"Then I'm definitely sleeping on the beds."

Sonic then noticed something with himself, and remembered something. "Ah, the Chaos Emeralds. Almost forgot to let them go." He walked outside, and saw the seven Chaos Emeralds dissapear from his self and into far away regions. "Looks like I'll be seeing them later." The blue hedgehog was then later joined by his partner.

"Were those the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, that was them. They did that last time I used them. It just means we'll have to search for them sometime later, but seeing as Robotnik's not going to be bothering us for a while, I think we can stay put." Sonic assured. "I think we'll be great room-mates."

"I think so too. Just as long as you don't torment me like those guys did back at Westside Island, then this'll be great." Tails agreed.

"Don't worry. I'll never torment you."

"Never?"

"Never."

So Sonic and Tails began their journey of living together in peace in the silent home in Mystic Ruins. When two friends come together like this, great things are bound to happen, until evil interrupts. After one year of living together, a similar thing begins to happen to Sonic and Tails...

Sonic opened the front door of the workshop, and closed it. "I guess I'll go for a run, today." he said, running off in a random direction. "I love running. It's better then being pent up in a small room." He ran into a forest, quite a few hundred miles later. In the forest, he saw some strange looking robots that had reminded him of someone. "These robots look familiar. These look like the kind Robotnik makes. I remember from when I beat him a year ago."

"Hedgehog sighted. Mission analysing...Destroy Sonic the Hedgehog for Doctor Robotnik." the robot stated, charging for Sonic. The hedgehog retaliated by jumping upon the robot, instantly destroying it.

"I've gotta tell Tails about this." Sonic said, running off in the direction of the workshop.

An hour or so later, Tails emerged from the front door, and closed it. In the distance, he could see a certain blue blur approaching. A second later, the same blue blur was face to face with him. "Tails! I need to tell you something important!" Sonic said. Tails started listening. "When I was out in my run, I ran into a forest, and saw one of Robotnik's robots. I think he's up to something again."

"What?! We need to investigate right now! Let's go to the tornado!" Tails exclaimed, running back inside the workshop house. A second later, a wall from the side of the workshop gave way, and Tails' plane emerged from it, with the young yellow-orange fox in the cockpit. Sonic jumped on the front, and Tails started the engines. The plane rose up from the ground, and Tails steered it towards the direction Sonic was running from. "This way, right?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, keep heading in this direction. We need to be quick, otherwise we may be too late." Sonic rushed, eager to see if Robotnik has returned. He contained his eagerness inside of him, in case if he fell off of the place. Though he had a pretty good grip on it, anybody could fall off at any given moment, except for Tails, since he had his seatbelt on.

"Let's go!" both Sonic and Tails said, with the plane flying off into the distance.


	2. Enter Luster

Around four hours or so, Sonic and Tails seemed to be flying above a forest, and a strange floating island seemed to be within sight. In the forest, there lived a humble and simple family. They had a house in the forest, with a a load of trees growing all around it. The family consisted of one mother, who goes by the name of Megan, one father, who is called Jack, by everyone. They both were on a happy marrage, with one son, simply named Luster. Luster was an ordinary cat, just like his mother and father. Surviving in the forest can be a little challenging, but Luster's family made it look like it was easy. Jack and Luster go out four or five times a week to look around for food to eat. If food that they had found was poisonus, then Megan would just cook it, and make it good to eat. But one day, whilst looking around for something to eat for the rest of the day, Jack heard a feint strange plane noise from above the forest. "Hey, what's that?" he asked himself, as he got up from sitting on a tree trunk.

"What's wrong, daddy?" Luster asked, scared.

"Don't be scared, Luster, it's nothing scary. I only hear a strange noise. Wanna come see with me?" Jack asked his son, telling him that there's nothing to be afraid of.

Luster was only five, but was still curious at what his daddy had found. He nodded, and Jack picked him up, and carried his son, and himself outside of the forest, and right outside of their home. "Look, Daddy, it's a plane!" Luster noticed, pointing to the plane. The plane was red-coloured, and a blue and a yellow-orange spec could be sighted on it.

_Who could they possibly be, and what could they be doing here? They look like they're looking for something. With the recent crash landing of that weird...thing from space, I guess everyone is investigating it. _Jack thought, confused as to who these Mobians are.

Meanwhile, upon the plane, Tails could see a floating island...Or was it? "Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing towards a strange-looking island in the ocean.

"I have no idea Tails. Whatever it is, it must be where Robotnik is." Sonic replied.

"Exactly. Hold on tight, Sonic!" Tails answered. He dipped the plane down, and turned on 'landing mode'. "Also Sonic, it's called the landing mode. Don't you remember? I was telling you about it."

"I guess I don't remember." Sonic said with a grin. The blue hedgehog got a good grip, and told his buddy he was ready. Tails flew his plane close down to the island, and tried to get a good landing. Luckily, he did, and landed on a lush green part of the island's grass. Sonic and Tails both jumped out of it, and were amazed at the beauty of the jungle.

Back with Jack and Luster, both cats were still amazed at the plane, and was still trying to figure out who those Mobians were. "Daddy, who were they?" Luster asked.

"I don't know, Luster. Let's go inside and tell Mummy about this, okay?" Jack replied. Luster nodded, and Jack put him back on the ground. Both cats then walked back inside, and were greeted by Megan the Wolf, Luster's mother.

"Hey boys!" Megan exclaimed, once seeing her husband and her son walk in. Luster gave her a hug, and then walked off further into the house. "So how was it today?"

Just realising that Luster went off somewhere else in the house, Jack replied, "It went well. We got these berries and mushrooms that'll need some cooking." Jack put everything he and Luster found outside on the table next to them.

"Ah, excellent. What shall we have for breakfast?" Megan asked.

"Let's have the berries for breakfast, and the mushrooms for lunch. For dinner, I'll find something else." Jack answered. He then remembered something. "Oh, I've just remembered. Luster and I found something strange outside."

Megan started listening. "Go on." she said.

"Luster and I found a plane speed by, with a yellow-orange, and a blue spec on it. Know anything like that?" Jack added.

Megan thought for a moment. _Hmmm, a plane with two different coloured specs on... _She then replied, "Nope, I've never seen anything like that before."

Jack sighed, and then shrugged. "Oh well, maybe we'll find out who they are some other time. But for now, let's have at those food then."

Five days later...

Sonic, after a fierce space battle with the evil scientist Robotnik, falls from space yet again, but this time he holds the Master Emerald, which is the controller of the Chaos Emerald's power. The Master Emerald has infinite power, and hearing of this, Robotnik stole the emerald from it's altar in the Floating Island to repair his fallen Death Egg, as he and Tails both found out. Whilst falling, Sonic re-entered the atmosphere, transforming him out of his Hyper state. Luckily, a while before Sonic started chasing Robotnik in space, Tails the Fox had flown back down to Angel Island, started up his plane's engines, and flew back up. At this moment, Sonic landed on the Tornado, but accidently dropped the Master Emerald. "No problem!" Tails remarked, flying towards the Master Emerald. Once aligned perfectly with the emerald, Tails pressed a button, and a grabber-claw from the bottom of the plane emerged, and managed to grab the Master Emerald.

"Phew, that was close! Now we've got to return this thing to the altar at Angel Island." Sonic stated, standing on the Tornado.

"Yep. Luckily, we aren't that far from the island. It's a good thing we're on good terms with Knuckles." Tails added, turning the plane around towards Angel Island. Landing on the island safely, Sonic and Tails made their way to the Master Emerald altar, where they were greeted by Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles was an echidna, a race that was thought to be extinct.

"So you're back." Knuckles the Echidna said, upon noticing that Sonic and Tails arrived back at the island. Sonic and Tails met Knuckles moments after they first arrived at Angel Island. Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald, and Robotnik tricked him into thinking that Sonic and Tails were here to steal the Master Emerald, to keep the hedgehog and fox duo out of his moustache for a while, though this plan did not go well until Robotnik betrayed the Echidna at the Hidden Palace, where the Master Emerald can turn the Chaos Emeralds into Super Emeralds, which in turn grant Sonic a new transformation; Hyper Sonic. Tails can even turn into Super Tails, but not Hyper Tails, due to his young age not having the proper strength needed to turn Hyper. After realising what Robotnik's true motives were, Knuckles decided to help the duo get to the Sky Sanctuary, which helped them get to the Death Egg, to confront Robotnik. Right now, Knuckles noticed that the duo were also holding the Master Emerald, and saw that they were having difficulty holding it. "Let's get the Master Emerald up on the altar here." He then helped Sonic and Tails lift the emerald back into it's resting place.

All of a sudden, Angel Island rose up from the ocean, and levitated straight back up into it's original spot in the air. However, Luster, Jack and Megan were all inside at this moment, so they did not notice the island rise up from the sea.

"Thanks, guys." Knuckles commented, giving Sonic and Tails a thumbs up.

"No problem, Knuckles." Sonic replied, giving Knuckles a thumbs up in return.

"We'll see you some other time!" Tails stated, waving towards Knuckles. "We should go now. Come on, Sonic." Tails and Sonic then walked towards the Tornado, and both got on in their usual places. Tails started the plane up, and flew back towards the shore.

Meanwhile, back at Luster's home, Luster and Jack walked outside to obtain some food for dinner. Jack and Luster had split up temporarily, but moments afterwards, a strange robot came up towards Jack. "Must. kill. everything!" the robot exclaimed.

"What? Who are you?" Jack asked.

"No. time. Must kill." the robot ignored. It then started shooting Jack rapidly. Due to the incredible fast rate the robot was shooting at, there was nothing Jack could do. He was defenseless. Luster didn't hear the sound the bullets were making, for he was busy picking out food. However, Megan could hear, because she just stepped out of the home to check on her husband and her son. After trying to find the source of the noise, she saw something terrifying. Her husband. On the floor, with a pool of blood sorrounding his body. Jack was dead.

"NO!" Megan yelled. Out of complete and utter blind rage, she charged towards the robot whom she assumed was her husband's killer, and fired a flurry of punches. The robot didn't feel a thing from the punches due to it's strong metal body. The flurry of fists damaged Megan more than they damaged the robot.

After a while, the robot got tired of defending from attacks it couldn't feel, and started shooting Megan in the same way it did to the late Jack. Luster jumped down from the tree he apparently was on, and could hear the shooting noises. Once he found the robot, he could see two bodies on the ground that were sorrounded by a rather large pool of blood. Both Megan and Jack were dead, and Luster witnessed. "Mummy? Daddy?" he asked, wondering if they were sleeping.

"Both. Animals. Are. Dead." the robot stated. "Now. To. Kill. This. One." The robot tried to shoot Luster, but the five year old cat quickly avoided the bullets, and now relied on his instincts to help him avoid death.

Meanwhile, above the area where Luster was avoiding the robot's bullets, Sonic could see a commotion going on. "Tails! Do you know what's going on down there?" he asked.

Tails slowed down the plane, and took a quick look down. "Uh-oh. One of Robotnik's badniks could've escaped somehow. It seems to have been frenzied from what I can tell." Tails answered. "Is is just me, or can I see bodies lying on the floor?"

"Quick, Tails. Let's land this plane and stop that robot." Sonic interjected. Tails nodded quickly, and made a quick landing near the area where the robot was trying to shoot Luster. Sonic quickly ran into the area, and saw a young mobian avoiding bullets from the robot. The robot noticed Sonic, and instantly started shooting the blue hedgehog, ignoring Luster. Before long, the robot was smashed into pieces before it's processors could even pick up on what was going on. The robot was defeated. Sonic then noticed Luster nearby. "Hey, kid, are you alright?" he asked.

Luster was told by his parents to not talk to strangers, so he didn't reply. By this time, Tails made it to the area. "What's happened?" the two-tailed fox asked.

"I think this robot killed these two on the ground, and was trying to kill that kid, but couldn't, for some reason." Sonic replied. "I'm surprised. That kid must be good."

"Have you told him who you are?" Tails continued to ask.

"No. I think he was told to not speak to strangers." Sonic answered.

Luster recognized the hedgehog and fox as the two specs he and Jack saw five days ago. "H...H..Hello?" Luster asked.

"Why is he speaking to us? Has he seen us somewhere?" Tails noticed. He stood next to Sonic, and replied, "Oh well. Hello there. My name is Tails."

"And mine's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic added. "What's your name?"

"L...L..Luster." Luster answered.

"Luster, huh? Sweet name." Sonic commented. "Luster, we're friendly people."

Being young, Luster picked up on this, and started to think that these two strangers weren't too bad. "Th..Thank you, Sonic." he replied.

"Where are your parents, Luster?" Tails asked. Luster pointed to below Tails and Sonic. Seconds after Luster pointed to the two bodies, they both realised that Luster was now an orphan. _These are his parents? That's harsh..._

_It can't be...I bet Luster thinks his parents are just sleeping...I'm starting to feel a bit sad... _Sonic thought, shedding a tear. So did Tails.

"Are...You two okay?" Luster asked, walking towards Sonic and Tails.

"Kid...Luster...Are your parents sleeping?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, Mummy and...Daddy are sleeping." Luster replied.

_Oh dear...I hate it when they're too naive to realise what's happened... _Tails thought.

"Luster? They're not sleeping..." Sonic said. "...They're dead."

Luster instantly got a combination expression of shock, and sadness. "What...does that mean?" he asked.

"That means they are sort of sleeping...But they're never waking up...Ever again." Sonic told the young Luster. _I really can't believe this kid doesn't know his parents are dead...He must be very young..._

"Never...waking up?" Luster said. He then burst out crying, with Sonic and Tails closing both of their eyes.

After a minute or four of crying, Luster calmed down a bit, and Sonic and Tails opened their eyes. "What shall we do now, Sonic? We can't leave him here on his own." Tails asked, worried for Luster.

"I've got no idea..." Sonic answered. He really had no idea what he should do. After a moment of thinking, Tails came up with an idea.

"Why don't we take him in, like you did with me back at Westside Island?" Tails suggested. He hoped this would be the best course of action.

"That might be a good idea. We can't just leave him here on his own. He won't survive." Sonic commented. He then realised at how good Luster was at dodging the robot's bullets repeatedly. "Actually, that is a really good idea. He's good at dodging fast things...Tails, that's a brilliant idea." Tails was pleased that Sonic liked his idea, and thought that Luster would enjoy it as well. The duo wiped their eyes and walked towards the still weeping Luster. "Hey, Luster...How would you like to come with us?"

Luster instantly stopped crying, wiped his eyes, and became happy. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, jumping up.

Sonic turned to Tails, and said, "I think he likes that idea." Both mobians laughed, as Luster joined them.

"But wait...How will we fit him onto the plane?" Tails asked.

"I can look after him." Sonic replied.

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, totally."

Tails sighed, and then smiled. "Then if you're okay with it, then I'm okay with it."

"Come on, Luster. Hold my hand." Sonic told Luster. Luster held Sonic's hand with a tight grip, and Tails led the two to the plane. Sonic and Luster climbed onto the left wing of the plane, and Tails climbed into the cockpit. Luster was startled at the noise the plane made, but Sonic calmed him down. Tails flew the plane upwards, and headed towards Mystic Ruins. Again, Luster was slightly scared, but as before, Sonic calmed him down. Tails then flew the plane further into the distance, and into the direction of Mystic Ruins, to find Sonic's home.


	3. At The Home of Mystic Ruins

Disclaimer: I do not own the following characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles 'Tails' Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik. SEGA does. However, I do own Luster the Cat. Do not steal.

After a while of flying on the Tornado, Luster seemed to get a little fidgety. This is obvious, because of the fact that Sonic had to work hard to make sure Luster did not fall from the plane, and suffer great injuries from the fall down. At one point, Luster very nearly had that fate, as he wanted to get to Mystic Ruins quicker, but Sonic stopped him before he could slide himself off. Luster was not entirely happy with this. "I hate flying. I want to go back down!" Luster protested, being held by Sonic.  
"Calm down, Luster. You don't want to fall and hurt yourself, do you?" Sonic asked, in an annoyed tone. That statement seemed to have worked, because Luster stopped fidgeting and moving about.

"I hate you. I want to run away!" Luster protested.

_Run away? I've never had to deal with an annoying kid like this before..._ Sonic thought. He nearly said it out loud, but he figured that an annoying child was easier to deal with then a crying child. "Don't run away. Besides, you can't right now, you'll just fall. And that won't be a great idea." Luster now kept quiet.

_Glad that Luster's managed to calm down. I couldn't focus on my destination! Speaking of that... _Tails thought, as he turned his head towards Luster and Sonic slightly. "We're nearing Mystic Ruins. When we get in the area, I need to fly towards the runway. Then we can land."

"Okay, got it. Just let us know when we're in the area." Sonic replied.

"No worries, I will." Tails added, now fully paying attention to the plane.

Sonic then turned to Luster, and said, "Did you hear that Luster? We're nearly going to land!"

"Yay!" Luster exclaimed, happy that they were getting nearer and nearer.

After a few more minutes, the Mystic Ruins was within sight. Sonic and Tails were both happy to have finally returned back home after battling Dr Robotnik for some time, and Luster wondered if this was his new home. Suddenly, the plane turned right around, and started to fly towards the runway. Tails then made the Tornado land safely on it, and decided to check for any casualties. "You two alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're good. I had to hold on to Luster to prevent him from falling, and he didn't get any major injuries." Sonic replied, checking on Luster.

"Excellent. Last thing I had to worry about was you two dying!" Tails joked, getting out of the cockpit of the plane. Sonic let out a little chuckle as he hopped off the plane whilst still holding Luster's hand.

"Is this home?" Luster asked, confused as to where he has been taken.

"Yes Luster, you're at your new home." Tails replied, turning to the small child. "Here, I'll take you inside and show you your new home, where you'll be sleeping and such." The grasp on Luster's right hand was now replaced with Tails', as he and the five year old walked right into the house. Sonic decided to follow them, obviously closing the front door when he walked in. The trio were then met with plain white walls, with brown Doors leading to the various rooms. The hallway was narrow, and relatively big. Sonic and Tails could easily fit in it. All of this was just a new thing to Luster. Being a five year old, he didn't think much of it. Tails turned towards Sonic, and told him, "Sonic, I'll set up his bed. I was thinking he could take yours, considering that you've never used it."

"Great idea! I never really liked sleeping inside. I prefer sleeping outdoors, where you can see the awesome night sky. Heh, it's just too cool." Sonic agreed, nodding. "In the meantime, I'll do some laps of the sorrounding forest." With that, the blue blur went outside and did as he said.

"I'm tired." Luster chirped in, innocently.

_Already tired? Reminds me of when I was younger. _Tails thought, as he led Luster into the main bedroom. It was only at the far end of the hallway, on the right. "Your bed's right there, Luster. Feel free to take a nap!"

"Okay!" Luster said, climbing on the bed that was next to his fox guardian's. As if by magic, Luster instantly fell asleep.

"Heh heh, that's quite cute. Now to wait for Sonic to return." Tails stated, leaving the room. He shut the Door as silent as he could, as to not wake up Luster. Then, he left the house itself, and was soon met with the face of his best friend. "Back already, Sonic?"

"I don't lie about running, Tails. You know how fast I am!" Sonic replied, in a jokey manner. "Taken care of Luster?"

"Yes, he's asleep right now, actually." Tails answered.

"Cool. So what's up? Why aren't you inside?" Sonic asked, curiously. _I was expecting him to be inside and scare him...oh well._

"I just need to ask you something. Doesn't Luster remind you of someone?" Tails questioned.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I remember seeing someone like him before. Can't place my finger on it, though." Sonic annswered.

"I figured you wouldn't remember as much as me. Remember when we met our future selves?" Tails continued to ask. _Sonic doesn't have the best of memories, but he's still my best buddy. A flaw like that shouldn't be enough to end a friendship._ Sonic nodded. "Remember that tall Mobian with the freaky abilities?"

"Not really." Sonic replied, clueless. _I wonder who Tails is talking about._

"The one that had eyes similar to our Luster? The one who had those weird attacks?" Tails asked.

"Nope. Doesn't ring a bell. But I do remember the attacks. Boy were those cool!" Sonic nodded, getting excited. _Why didn't I ask him to teach me some of those moves? I would love to be able to do them!_

"Yeah, I guess they were pretty cool. It's probably just me, but I think that guy is similar to Luster. He looks so much like him!" Tails explained. "Anyway, you have to come see Luster sleeping. It's adorable!" Sonic calmed down, and followed Tails inside and into the Bedroom. However, Luster was awake.

"Can you two read me a bedtime story?" Luster asked, looking up at the Hedgehog and Fox.

"Sure, Luster." Sonic replied. He then crouched down so that his height was the same as Luster's as he was sitting on the bed. He then turned to Tails, and said, "I got this, Tails. I've got a great idea for a story." Tails nodded, and listened.

"So Luster, you ready?" Sonic asked, turning back towards the young one.

"Yeah, yeah!" Luster nodded, getting just as excited as Sonic was, moments before.

"Okay then! Here goes!" Sonic started. He took a deep breath, then said, "Once upon a time, there was an evil man named Ivo. He was hated by many people because he did some very bad things. But one day, Ivo had enough, and decided to try and conquer the world. He read about some magical items, called the Chaos Emeralds. In the book, it explained how they all were very powerful objects, and were all over the world. They never stayed in one place, so he sent one of his minions to find them. In the end, the minion told Ivo that all the Chaos Emeralds were at an island called South Island. Ivo then decided to go there, as he thought getting the Emeralds would help in rule the world. When he got there, he asked where the Chaos Emeralds are, but nobody told him. This made him very angry, and decided to turn everyone on South Island into robots. This worked, and the whole island was pretty much under control by Ivo. However, a hero named Cinos managed to hear of Ivo's evil in South Island, and decided to stop him. Cinos travelled through many lands, and eventually into Ivo's base that the evil scientist created. Cinos and Ivo were then in a big battle, with Cinos the winner. He had found the seven Chaos Emeralds on his travels around the island, which helped him beat the scientist. South Island was then saved from Ivo, and the Emeralds flung off into the world again, just as they were before. Ivo told himself that he would be back, and Cinos would not beat him next time. The end."

At the point Sonic finished the story, Luster was under the covers, fast asleep. Tails then asked, "Did you base that story off of your first adventure?"

Sonic turned and said, "Yep. Except I changed some names. I figured Luster would like it."

"Next time, tell him about the adventure with me in it. That'd be cool!" Tails answered.

"Good idea!" Sonic agreed. "I'm going to rest on the roof. Story telling's quite tiring for me. Also, it's getting pretty late." He pointed towards the window as he said this, and Tails noticed that it was indeed getting late. Sonic then sped out of the house and onto the roof, gazing at the stars above. Tails decided to fall asleep as well. Each of them had a long day tomorrow.

Upon the roof, Sonic had some thoughts as to what Tails said to him earlier. _Luster...he really does remind me of that guy. I can't remember his name though...agh! Why am I no good at remembering? Those attacks were way past cool. I'd never seen anything like them before! And I've been around most of the world...where did that guy come from? It's so strange...what happens in the future? Why didn't I ask my future self about him? He would've known. Let's see if I can find any clues about him...ah! I don't know why, but I remember what happened when I rescued him from that white limbo..._

**Flashback**

_"Thanks Sonic! Huh? You look a little odd. Is something about this world affecting you in anyway?" - asked._

_"No, I've always looked like this. Have you never seen me before?" Sonic responded._

_"It's just that you seem shorter. And your eyes...aren't they green?" - questioned._

_It seems like he knows me, but doesn't know me at the same time. What's going on here? Sonic thought, staring at -'s face._

**Flashback End**

_How strange...I'm getting another one flashback now. _Sonic thought, still gazing at the twinkling stars.

**Flashback**

_"So, Past Sonic, how are you?" - asked._

_"I'm alright, -. Just waiting for me to return." Sonic replied._

_"You know what? All this time travel stuff is confusing. Talking about yourself as if you aren't yourself must be confusing." - stated._

_"Yeah, I'm getting a headache. Future me said you have some awesome tricks. Can you show me?" Sonic questioned._

_"Sure. I'll just aim in a random direction, far away from any of these...place thingies." - nodded. He aimed at a random direction, and had his arms behind him. Then, he shaped his hands into a sort of cup. Suddenly, a strange blue orb appeared in his hand. "This is one of my most used techniques. The -!" He then moved his arms in the direction he was looking at, and fired a peculiar beam-like lasery thing. Sonic was bewildered at this sight. The power omitting from -'s attack was immense!_

**Flashback End**

_I loved that attack. It felt so powerful! _Sonic thought, now looking at the moon. _I sure can't wait to meet him again in the future. Maybe I can ask him to teach me something! I'll just have to wait! _The Hedgehog then sighed, and told himself, "I should get some rest. Tomorrow I'll wake up and get some food from the Forest. I'll bring Luster with me, as he has been living in a Forest area for a long time. He should know what Forest foods are good." And with that statement, Sonic shut his eyes, and started drifting asleep.

**The Next Day...**

Tails woke up, and noticed that Luster was still asleep. He looked out of the window, only to find that his suspicion was confirmed; it was daytime. Upon finding this out, the Fox removed his eyes of any sleep that had built up, and got up out of bed. He exited the Bedroom, and heard a knocking at the Front Door. Curious, he opened it and found that Sonic was standing there, doing a pose that Tails figured was one he does when he is waiting for something to happen. "So Tails, I'm going to go get some food from the Forest. I was thinking of taking Luster with me." Sonic said.

"What? You're thinking of taking Luster with you? He's very young!" Tails objected.

"Did you not hear me? I said I'll be taking him with me. I'll be with him." Sonic repeated.

"Oh right. Sorry, didn't hear that. Go on then, I'll stay here." Tails apologised. "Oh wait, I should tell you he's asleep."

"Okay. I'll just wait for him in the Bedroom, then." Sonic said, running towards the Bedroom. Obviously he didn't run as fast as he could - he would just break the house. Instead of a run, it was more of a jog. When the Hedgehog got in the room, he was surprised to see that Luster was actually awake.

"Hi, Sonic!" Luster waved. He was very happy to see his Hedgehog Guardian.

"Hi, Luster! Do you want to go into the Forest with me and get some food?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah!" Luster agreed. He may or may not have understood the question.

"Alright, cool!" Sonic nodded. "Come on, I'll take you there." Luster hopped off of the bed, and started following Sonic out of the house and into the Forest that sorrounds the Mystic Ruins. "So, do you know any good foods?"

"Umm, me and Daddy always get the Berries that are on the Trees. They're tasty." Luster answered.

"Alright, I'll get some of them then. Oh, here are some now!" Sonic noticed. "Wait here." He used a Spin Dash attack to cut down some Berries that were on two Trees. "Got them!"

"Whoa! What was that?!" Luster asked. The Spin Dash was a technique he had never seen before. In his mind, it was VERY awesome.

"That? It's just my attack I made. I call it the Spin Dash!" Sonic explained.

"Cool! Can I do it?" Luster asked. As any young child, he wanted to replicate what he just witnessed.

"I don't know...I can teach you how to do it. That cool?" Sonic replied.

"Yeah! That's cool!" Luster nodded, jumping in excitement.

"Okay. All you gotta do is what I'm doing. Got it?" Sonic questioned. He crouched, and took a stance, as if he was in a race. Luster nodded, and did the same thing. "Now just focus on a ball-like shape. Try to imagine you are it." Luster invisioned a spherical shape within his mind, just as Sonic said. "Now try running on the spot." Luster did, and ended up morphing into a ball. Sonic did, as well. "Cool! You've done the first part! Now let go of your hands!" Luster did as his Guardian told him, and ended doing a very slow Spin Dash attack. One that was very primitive compared to Sonic's one. "Heh, not bad. After some practice, you should be able to get a fast Spin Dash like mine. Tails had to do the same thing, and his is pretty quick. It nearly is the same speed as mine! Good job!"

"Thank you, Sonic! I will try again and again until I do well!" Luster responded, in a very happy mood. He had just learnt his first technique ever.

"No problem! Now let''s get some more Berries, and take them back to Tails." Sonic replied. He Spin Dashed some more Berries, and led Luster back to the house. Tails noticed they managed to get a lot of Food.

"Wow! That's surely a lot of Berries! Come on, let's eat! I'm starving!" Tails said, surprised at the vast amount of Berries Sonic and Luster obtained.

"Yeah, it sure is! Also, I taught Luster Spin Dash." Sonic stated.

"You did? Heh heh, awesome!" Tails nodded.

"Can we eat now?" Luster asked. Like Tails, he too was very hungry.

"Sure." Sonic said, giving some Berries to Luster, some for Tails, and some more for himself.

"These Berries are great! Luster really did help with picking them, huh?"

"He sure did." Sonic said. He then turned to Luster, and told him, "You were a big help today! Here's an extra Berry for being so good." He got one Berry, and gave it to Luster.

"Yay!" Luster squealed, overjoyed that he got another delicious Berry.

"I was also thinking we could use some later on today." Sonic told Tails, once he gave the Berry to Luster.

"Good idea Sonic. I can't wait to have them again!" Tails replied.

"Heh, same here!" Sonic added. "Luster really is something!"


	4. Enter Amy

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters, settings and other things are all owned by SEGA. However, I own Luster the Cat. No stealing.

In the Bedroom of Sonic's house/workshop, Luster and Tails are sitting on their respective Beds, doing absolutely nothing. They had eaten their Lunch, which only consisted of the Berries that Sonic and Luster had obtained from the Forest previously, and now have nothing to do. Luster in particular was annoyed at being bored.

"I'm bored." Luster said. "There's nothing to do."

"When Sonic gets back, I'm sure he'll want to run around with you. He's the kind of guy that loves speed." Tails replied.

"Okay!" Luster nodded, now excited at the idea of running. Just then, an opening and closing of a Door was heard.

"I think he's back! I'll go and check." Tails exclaimed, leaving the Bedroom. In the hallway, he met Sonic.

"Hey Tails! I'm back from my run!" Sonic told his Fox buddy.  
"Glad to see that you're still with us! Find anything cool?" Tails asked.

"Eh, nothing really. Except Trees, Grass and Water." Sonic answered.

"Okay then." Tails said. "Actually, can I ask you something, Sonic?"

"Sure, fire away." Sonic nodded. "What's up?"

"Do you mind taking Luster on a run with you?" Tails asked. "He's getting pretty bored."

"Hmm...alright then. I've been wanting to see how fast he can run, anyway." Sonic admitted.

"Yeah, considering how he dodged those Bullets from that Robot yesterday, he must be fairly quick. Either that, or he must have been taught how to swing from Vines by his parents." Tails suggested.

"Probably. Right then, I'll take him running. Back in a flash!" Sonic continued. He entererd the Bedroom, and was met with the happy, and adorable face of Luster. "Hey, Luster. Wanna go running with me?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Luster nodded. He was now very excited.

"Alright! Let's do it to it!" Sonic said. "Follow me!" Luster did, and followed the Hedgehog out of the house, and onto the decently large bit of land that is just down some Stairs. "This should be a good place to run around in. Luster, try and see if you can keep up with me. I'm going to run and you're going to try and go faster. That okay?"

"Uh-huh!" Luster agreed. Sonic then began to run around the perimeter of the circular bit of land, at only a very small fraction of his average speed. A speed that would clock in at approximately 10 Miles Per Hour. Luster easily kept up with such a low speed. "I'm fast!"

"Heh heh, you are!" Sonic commented. _Let's see if he can go faster. _Sonic then doubled his current speed of 10 MPH. He was now running at 20 MPH. Luster continued to run at the same speed. _Wow, he's pretty quick for a however young he is. Then again, so am I! _The Blue Blur furtherly doubled his speed to 40 MPH. Luster did have some difficulty getting that high a speed, but otherwise managed to pull it off. _He's even keeping up with me now? He really is fast! But not as fast as either Tails or me, though. _He turned to Luster, and saw how much effort the young Cat was putting in. _I'll try doing a little bit more..._ Instead of doubling his current speed, Sonic only added 10 MPH to his 40 MPH. That means he is now doing 50 MPH. On the other hand, Luster was breaking so many sweats, he was actually thinking of stopping. But for some reason, he felt like he was going faster, without even realising. This kept going on, until Luster was also running at 50 MPH. _Whoa! He sure is the quick one! It'd be good to stop before he falls over or something. _Sonic did just that, which resulted in him just nearly crashing into the wall. Luster almost did the same thing, but his azul Guardian prevented him from actually hitting the stone. "Luster, are you alright?"

Luster nodded, and replied, although he was breathing in and out very heavily, "Uh-huh...very tired though..."

"I got'cha." Sonic answered, picking up Luster and holding him with his two Arms. He then brought the young one into the Bedroom and in his Bed. Once that was done, Sonic tucked the Cat in, and said quietly, "Have a nice rest." After leaving the room, he was met with Tails, most likely to ask Sonic what happened out there, as he figured.

"Sonic, why is Luster so tired?" Tails asked, much to Sonic's thoughts.

"Oh, it's just because I may have accidently told him to run too fast..." Sonic confessed. He was expecting some sort of scolding from his buddy, but found that the exact opposite happened.

"Really? I guess that does prove my theory. Do you know exactly how fast he went?" Tails asked.

"No. How would I tell?" Sonic interjected.

"Good point." Tails said. "It's a good thing you found out, though. If ever we take Luster on an adventure, in which we probably will considering the fact that we can't leave him alone, we'll be safe in the knowledge that he won't get hurt easily."

"Yeah. I'm going to go running some more. See you later!" Sonic replied, going back outside.

"See you later, Sonic!" Tails responded, waving goodbye to his blue Hedgehog friend. "That's Sonic for you. He's out for a bit, then comes back for a shorter amount of time, then leaves again. As least he cares, that's the main thing. I think I'll take a sit down in the Workshop." Tails closed the Front Door behing the speedy blue 'hog, and walked into the Workshop that was on his right. It was a small and narrow one, but it still gives Tails enough space to construct his many machines. The back wall is actually retractable, meaning that if Tails were to press a button, it would open, allowing the Tornado that is centered in the Workshop to get onto the runway without any troubles. In one corner, there is a wooden Chair with Arm rests, which is the Fox's Relaxation Chair. He uses it whenever he feels like he needs to, as this is one of those times when he does. "I just love coming in here." Tails said upon sitting down on said Chair. _Luster...I have a feeling he's going to grow up to do great things. Things that probably won't include us. Things that he'll have to do on his own. That could just be my paranoia talking. A tall Cat...that really can't be what Luster's going to turn out to be, right? I'll believe it when I see it. Though I must admit, those attacks he used were pretty awesome! What was that one...the er..._

**Flashback**

_"Hey there, Past Tails! Waiting for the Sonics to get back?" - asked._

_"Yeah...I wish I could help, though." Tails answered._

_"Heh, don't worry. Sonic can take care of himself. These are places he's been to, right? I don't see why he won't get through them again." - reassured._

_"That's true. All this Time Travel stuff is getting to me!" Tails exclaimed._

_"It's getting to me, too. Don't beat yourself up over it. I know! I'll show you one of my techniques to get your mind off of this!" - suggested._

_"Good idea! What's it called?" Tails asked, as - stood still, with his back erect. He turned his hands so his palms were facing upwards, and started to tense his Arm muscles. Suddenly, two sphere-shaped electrical...things appeared in his hands, and aimed for a point away from anything that could potentially get destroyed from -'s attack. Then, - fired the attack. The electric went straight like a beam, but it still had the power to destroy many objects._

_Once it was over, - said, "That's called -. It's very useful, as it can actually paralyze my opponents for a short period of time."_

_"Cool!" Tails drawled._

**Flashback End**

_That was really great! Shame I can't see until a very long time from now. Oh well, back to life._ Tails continued to think. "I wonder how Sonic's doing."

**Meanwhile, over at the Mystic Ruins Forest...**

Sonic was speeding through the Forest, jumping over any obstacle that may trip him up. "Heh, nothing can stop me!" He proclaimed. The thing is, he was right. There was nothing in his path that could prevent him from running as fast as he could. Except perhaps...

"Finally...finally, I've found you, Sonic!" a voice cried out.

"Huh?" Sonic asked, puzzled. He crashed right into...whatever that said his name. On the other hand, the thing seemed to be happy to have Sonic within it's grasp. The Speedy Blur looked up, and saw a face that he easily recognised. "Amy?!"

"Hey, Sonic! I've finally found you after all this time!" Amy announced.

"How did you find me?!" Sonic asked, bewildered. _How? Just how?_

"It was simple! All I did was go around the world and kept asking! Eventually I found someone that told me that he saw a Plane flying in the direction of the Mystic Ruins. He said the colour of the Plane was blue, and I knew that your Plane was blue, so I figured that you live in the Mystic Ruins! Somebody else told me how to get there, and here I am! Being the lucky person that I am, I manage to stumble across you running in the Forest! Oh, like it was meant to be!" Amy explained.

Sonic was speechless. _What Girl is that obsessed to actually go around the World to find a Guy she likes? Obviously she's the only one in existance!_

"No words to say? Are you just too happy to see me? Oh, Sonic!" Amy hinted. Despite how happy she was, Sonic broke free of her grip and sped off as fast as he could. LITTERALY. Sonic got out of the Forest even quicker then he would if he were chasing Robotnik. Angry at this, Amy shouted in the distance, "Sonic! You know you can't escape me! I know where you live! And that's a fact!" She knew that her love couldn't hear her, but did it anyway. After that, Amy decided to run in the same direction that Sonic sped off in, in the hopes of finding him.

**Back at Sonic's House...**

After having run away from Crazy Amy, as he likes to call her, Sonic instantly went inside the House and slammed the Door shut. The sound it made was loud enough to disturb Tails from a rest he took shortly after having the flashback. The two-tailed Fox left the Workshop, and noticed that Sonic was breathing in and out heavily. "What's wrong, Sonic? You look like you took a swim!" Tails joked.

"No time for jokes, Tails! Amy's back!" Sonic cried.

"Amy? From Little Planet? What's she doing here?" Tails asked, confused.

"She told me she tracked me down. She went through the ENTIRE WORLD to find me!" Sonic replied in a scared manner.

"Calm down, you'll wake up Luster. And what? Amy tracked you down? Wow, she's quite obessive." Tails noticed.

"I know! I need to hide! But where?" Sonic asked.

"The Workshop! That's a good place! Here, follow me!" Tails suggested, grabbing Sonic's Arm and leading him into the Workshop. "Hide in the middle of these two shelves! She won't know to look there!"

"Thanks, buddy! I really owe you one!" Sonic thanked. Just then, a knock was heard at the Front Door. That didn't mean anything good.

"Sonic...are you here?"

"AMY'S HERE! Quick Tails, stall her!" Sonic told Tails, as he launched himself for the hiding space that Tails pointed out. Speaking of the young Fox, he aimed for the Front Door, and opened it.

"Hello? Amy?" Tails asked, feigning knowledge that she was here in the first place.

"Hi, Tails! I haven't seen you in forever!" Amy stated. "How have you been?"

"I'm alright. I live here." Tails answered.

"Really? You live with Sonic? Speaking of the blue hunk, where is he?" Amy asked.

"Uh...he's...out for a run. Why? Did you need him?" Tails replied.

"No, I just want him. Can I come in and wait for him to return?" Amy questioned.

"No." Tails nodded. "You can't come in because...er..."

"I'm coming in. I know he's here...I sense him!" Amy countered. She pushed Tails to the side, and looked left and right. "Sonic...where are you?" She sniffed the Air as if she smelt some nice Food, and her Nose led her to the Door to the Workshop.

"No, Amy! Don't go in there!" Tails said.

"Why not? You're hiding something in there, aren't you? I bet it's Sonic, too!" Amy accused.

"You can't go in there because...my machines! I know that you're looking for Sonic, but in your search you'll have to push away various Tools and Shelves, and I can't risk them getting any dents in them! They could stop working!" Tails cried out.

Amy went in anyway. "What a lame excuse, Tails. I know Sonic's in here. You're not going to stop me!"

"No!" Tails returned. _I can't tackle her...that wouldn't be good for the machines AND the gentlemanship. I just hope Sonic can get out of there!_ _I've done all that I can..._

"Oh Sonic...I know you're in here!" Amy projected. Sonic was still lying between the two Shelves that Tails told him, and was quaking in fear. Amy proceed to pull down various things, and all the while, she kept saying Sonic's name. After a few minutes, Amy pulled away the two Shelves that Sonic was hiding between. "Hi, Sonic! How have you been while hiding there?" Before the Blue Blur could say anything, Amy Rose grabbed him, stood him up and hugged him. "After all this time, I'm finally with you!" Try as he might, Sonic could not break free of Amy's hold. He was stuck there.

"Help me!" Sonic shouted. Luckily for him, the shout was loud enough to wake up Luster.

He got off of his Bed, and asked, "Sonic? Tails?" in a loud voice.

Tails heard this, and replied, "Luster! Could you help Sonic? He's in the Workshop!"

"Okay!" Luster said. He then left the room, and went straight into the Workshop, paying no attention to Tails. Inside, he saw Amy hugging Sonic, but thought Amy was trying to harm his Guardian. "Let go of Sonic!" He charged for Amy, taking her down to the ground, making Sonic free again.

"Thanks, Luster!" Sonic thanked, as he sped out of the House. Meanwhile, Luster had Amy pinned on the floor of the Workshop. Unluckily for the Cat, Amy didn't know who he was, so she pushed him away, and started to pursue her love. This made the young Luster cry, because he didn't like the pain. However, Tails heard this, and entered the Workshop. Noticing that both the Workshop and Luster were in a mess, he got mad. Really mad.

"If only I were stronger! I would have stopped this from happening! But now I have to clear this all up! Just great!" Tails complained. He approached Luster and tried to calm him down. "Luster, it'll be okay. Tails is here now. That mean woman won't get to you when I'm here." Luckily, it worked, and made Luster stop crying. "Now go, have a nice long nap. You need it!" The Cat nodded, and returned to his Bed. "How will Sonic get away from Amy? Ugh, this is all a mess!"

**Outside, on the Mystic Ruins...**

Sonic was running around in circles, trying to make Amy dizzy so that he can take her to a faraway place, so that he'd be safe for a while. However, this didn't seem to be working, and Amy continued to prove over and over again that she wasn't about to let go anytime soon. _I got an idea!_ he thought. The Blue Blur stopped, and Amy instantly went for him. "Stop, Amy!" She did stop, much to Sonic's delight. "Amy, I need to tell you something. I'm not the real Sonic." This got Amy rather surprised. She swore she was chasing down Sonic the Hedgehog, not some fake.

"If you're not the real Sonic, who are you?" Amy asked. As stubborn as she is, gullible is another one of her strong suits.

"I am..." Sonic announced in a deep voice. He pointed to the sky, and Amy looked, believing there was something there. Luckily, this gave the Hedgehog some time to throw some of the Dirt onto his eyes, somehow making his eyes bloodshot. When Amy turned back, she realised that what 'Sonic' said earlier was true. "...Evil Sonic!"

"Ah!" Amy screamed in fear. She was chasing the wrong person!

"Yes, I am Evil Sonic! Now leave this place and never come back, or I will destroy you!" 'Evil' Sonic boomed. _I can't believe she's this gullible! _Speechless, Amy ran. She ran as fast as she could. Her destination was anywhere that was far away from Mystic Ruins. With Sonic's lie, she knew never to return.

Once Amy left completely, Sonic returned to his House, and shut the Front Door. He went inside the Workshop, and noticed that Tails was tidying up the room. The Fox looked over to the Hedgehog, and stopped tidying. "Sonic. I am so sorry I didn't stop Amy." Tails apologised.

"Tails...that's okay. You didn't stop Amy, but we eventually did. That's all I care about." Sonic comforted.

"Sure but-wait a minute, you got her to go away? How?" Tails asked.

"Yeah. I pretended I was 'Evil Sonic', and forced her to go away. Thing is, I had to throw some Dirt on my Eyes to make them bloodshot. Do you know if some rest would get rid of the bloodshotness?" Sonic explained.

"I'm pretty sure a rest would do fine. Again, I'm sorry Sonic." Tails answered, looking sad.

"Tails, it's okay. It's okay. It's over now, and it will never happen again. She's pretty easily scared, I can tell you that." Sonic smiled. That last remark got Tails to laugh a little, immediately making him feel much better about himself. "Right, I'll be on the Roof. See ya later."

"See ya, Sonic! Have a nice nap!" Tails replied. Once Sonic departed, Tails continued his tidying up of the Workshop. Since he felt much better, he got a lot more work done more quickly, and the Workshop was tidy again in no time. "I gotta check up on Luster. See if he's okay." With that, Tails left his beloved workplace and entered the Bedroom, where Luster was sitting down on his Bed.

"Hi, Tails!" Luster said. He was happy to see that his Guardian was okay. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Luster. What about you?" Tails asked in return.

"I'm good, Tails. I feel a lot better!" Luster answered.

"That's great! Sonic's just taking a nap on the Roof, because he's really tired after what went on with that mean woman. She's gone now, and won't be back for a very long time."

"Okay! I'm tired. I want to go to sleep now. Goodnight!" Luster said, going back to sleep under his Bed's covers. Tails tucked him in.

"Phew, that was actually pretty tiring. Having a sleep's a great idea!" Tails noticed, going under his Bed's covers and going to sleep. _Although it isn't nighttime, a rest in the Day is acceptable. I can't be judged. _He thought, as he drifted off to sleep.

**On the roof of Sonic's House...**

Sonic was actually laying down on the Roof, and not sleeping. He didn't feel like going right away, but is considering doing so. "Today hasn't been on long, and already it's big! I better have a rest. If today was big, what will tomorrow bring?" He asked himself, as he rubbed and shut his eyes, finally going to sleep.


	5. The Adventure Begins

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters, settings and other things are all owned by SEGA. However, I own Luster the Cat. No stealing.

A certain amount of Months after the 'Amy Incident', everything was peaceful. In that time, Tails rearranged his Tools into Alphabetical order...

"And then the Wrench goes there...done!" Tails said. "Finally, my Tools are now a bit easier to get to. Good thing that these items were here in this House in the first place. I wouldn't want to go around the World collecting them!"

Sonic discovered a new technique...

"Heh, time to run!" Sonic declared to himself. He instantly sped away from the Mystic Ruins and into the Forest, going at the speed of Sound. "Alright! Now that I tricked Amy into never coming here again, I can run as fast as I can!" This happy mood kept up until he noticed a Tree right down in front of him. Not wanting his speed to go, Sonic tried to jump over it, but ended up doing something completely different. He charged straight at the Tree in mid-air! The result of this was that the Tree went rolling back, now only like a small, but wide hurdle. "What was that?! Why do I remember it so..." Just then, the Blue Hedgehog had a flashback.

**Flashback**

_"Hey Sonic, wanna see something cool?" Future Sonic asked his younger self._

_"Sure! Fire away!" Present Sonic answered._

_"Okay! It's one of the various techniques you learn later. I think you learn it in some kind of Forest? I can't remember. Anyway, it's called the Homing Attack." Future Sonic explained. He jumped up, and charged straight forward, within mid-air! "Nothing happens unless there's something to target with the Homing Attack. It'll become very useful in your Future."_

_"Awesome!" Past Sonic exclaimed._

**Flashback End**

"Yes! That's it! It's that Homing Attack my Future self uses! Woo! I've finally learnt it for myself!" Sonic announced. He then remembered he was in the middle of a run, so he continued it, using his new Homing Attack technique whenever it was neccesary.

Amy lived in fear of 'Evil Sonic'...

"I won't ever go there again! Those guys that told me Sonic was at the Mystic Ruins...I'll get them for playing such a horrid joke on me!" Amy cursed into the sky. "Wait a minute...where am I going to live now?"

Luster had a new birthday...

The young Cat was waiting outside the Front Door of Sonic's House, awaiting his surprise. Just then, disrupting the nice and relaxing Sounds of Nature that Luster was taking in, a loud yell of the word "Finished!" could be heard from the Home. This startled the five year old, but Tails opening the Door calmed him down. "Ready for your surprise, Luster?" the Fox asked.

"Yeah!" Luster answered. Tails led him inside, and noticed that Sonic was also in there, next to a Chair that had a Cake on it.

"Surprise!" both Sonic and Tails exclaimed. "Happy birthday, Luster!"

"Yay!" Luster cried out in happiness. He walked towards the Cake and Sonic, and said, "Thank you! Can I eat now?" This made all three of them laugh, as they both had experienced such a day before. Well, perhaps not properly in Tails' case.

"So how old are you today, Luster?" Tails asked. _I can't believe we've never asked that question before!_

"Um...Six!" Luster answered. "I am Six!"

"Six? Cool!" Sonic commented. "Go on, have some Cake we made for you, Luster! We had to go to many places to get the ingrediants for it!" But by then Luster was already eating away at the delicious Food item.

"I think he's enjoying it." Tails joked. "This must be his best Day ever!"

And Sonic, Tails, Amy, Robotnik, and even Knuckles, each recieved a new look!

Through many Days of running and using his new Homing Attack, Sonic's Eyes turned to a Neutral Green colour. All of the Days that passed, his Eyes went from Black, to a slightly Greener Black, then an even more Greener Black, and so-on, until they were completely Green. However, the Hedgehog didn't notice this until he noticed that Tails' Eyes changed as well, to a Blue colour.

"Whoa Tails, what's happened to your Eyes? They're Blue!" Sonic noticed.

"What? No they're not." Tails answered, until he took a look in his buddy's Eyes. "Hey, why are your's Green?"

"They are?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah. They're totally Green!" Tails replied. "If yours are Green, then are mine truly Blue?"

"Yep, absolutely. Why would I lie to you?" Sonic rhetorically asked.

"True, I know you'd never lie to me. I believe I've heard of this before...it should be what happens to every Mobian at one point in their life. Their Eyes begin to change colour, and quite possibly the fur. Your's hasn't changed. Has mine?"

"To tell you the truth, it's actually become lighter then it was before. It's more Yellow." Sonic analysed.

"Really? More Yellow? That's preculiar, but cool. I can live with it!" Tails admitted.

Amy Rose's new look she obtained from her own desire. After a while of walking around the World, looking for a place to reside, she stumbled across Tree that had a Red Dress on it. Amy thought it'd look good on her, so she decided to attempt to get it down.

"How am I going to get that Dress down?" she asked herself. This was a true brain puzzler for her, and she wasn't really the puzzle solving type. But all of a sudden, Rose had an idea. She got her signiture Piko-Piko Hammer out from seemingly nowhere, jumped up at the Branch the Dress was stuck on, and tried to hit it. Unluckily for her, it didn't work, but it did edge the Dress closer to the end of the Branch. "I got it!" she exclaimed. Her new idea to get the lovely Dress was a simple one. Amy threw her Hammer at the Dress, forcing the Branch upwards, which gave the Red coloured piece of Girls' Clothing some Air to float about in. it eventually drifted towards the Ground, where Amy simply picked it up. "Wow, it even feels better then my current one! This feels so smooth...and my one's starting to get a bit small for me. I'll just take this, if nobody minds." She quickly took her Dress off, and put the one she was holding on, very quickly. Luckily, nobody saw her. _This is SO cool! How it is so comforting? Hang on...I have an idea! I'll change my Fur style, so that whenever I meet the real Sonic, I'll be able to surprise him!_

Knuckles' new look wasn't really much. It was only his Eyes turning Purple, and he paid no attention to it. It was something he really didn't care about, much like everything else, except his job.

Robotnik on the other hand wasn't a Mobian, so he didn't go under the same changes as the other four. He was starting to get annoyed of how Rubbery his clothes were, and demanded his Robotic minions that they create a new one for him. It was made in no time, and was designed with the evil Genius' interests at heart. It was Red, like his last one, but had White, Squared lines that led to four Yellow cube-like things.

"Excellent! This new costume will be perfect for my evil deeds! Speaking of evilness, I have to go do something at Little Planet..." Robotnik stated.

That was all that happened during the long period of time after the 'Amy Incident'. However, all these events have led up to a new adventure for Sonic and Tails!

**Present Day**

Sonic, Tails and Luster were all in the Workshop, waiting for nothing in particular. However, Sonic was getting rather bored.

"Tails!" Sonic said, trying to catch his friend's attention. "I'm going out for a run. See you guys later!"

"Bye, Sonic!" Tails and Luster both said, waving at the Blue Blur. Sonic then left, and instantly started running in a straight line. However, he decided to turn right, just as he got outside of the Forest. This was something he had never done before, so whatever he'd be seeing would be all new to him. He kept running, paying no mind to anything that was around him. All that he was doing was focusing on his running course. Tree Stumps, Rocks, Boulders, anything and everything was dodged, and felt a little bit of Sonic's speed. Though there was one thing that caught his attention. Various Robots that seemed to belong to a certain someone were dotted about.

"These can't be Buttnik's 'bots, right? Is he trying to take over the world again or something? There has to be some reason behind this, and that I'll find out!" Sonic told himself, as he Homing Attacked the Robots. The trail of them led to a place by the Ocean. The Grass was strangely checkered with two colours, which were Light Green and Dark Green. "Huh? I've been to Green Hill and Emerald Hill, and they were nothing compared to this Grass! It's amazing! I wonder what I'll see here. I'm getting excited!" He was now really enjoying the idea of exploring new areas. Especially ones with good-looking scenery. He proceeded through the place, encountering more Robots. "Okay, I'm pretty sure Robotnik's here. I think he's starting up something new! Alright!" He ran through the area, meeting Springs, Gold Rings, old Robots, and all those sort of things. Sonic was really having a ball in this place, as there were plenty of curved areas where he can really feel the wind brushing upon him. The enemies didn't prove to be a challenge either, as he had destroyed plenty of them previously. But when the Blue Hedgehog got to another part of the area, it was something he wasn't quite expecting. "Vines? Hmm, it doesn't seem like there are any Springs around to get me up that massive wall. Looks like I have to use this Vine to make my way up." He grabbed onto one, and let go when the swing was at it's peak. This allowed him to get to the bit of land that was previously inaccessible to him. More of the area led to these Vines. They served many purposes, such as bringing Sonic upwards to high ledges, and others that bring him down to a lower part of land safely. "I'm sure Luster would make the swinging of these Vines look easy!" As Sonic got through this Vine-filled part of the area, he noticed that the Sun was actually setting. "Heh, I'm expecting Robotnik to appear around here. I'll get to him quickly." Luckily, there seemed to be no more Vines in sight, as Sonic was met with some sort of Zipline-thing. "What are these?" he asked himself, as he grabbed one. The result of doing that was that Sonic was litteraly Ziplined across a large gap, that could mean bad for the blue 'hog. "Whoa! That was surely something! It could be a bit more faster, but that was probably because of me trying to check it out. Either way, that was cool!" He advanced through the rest of the area, going up Springs, running up and around more clean curves, and using more Ziplines at much faster speed. So far, this place seemed to be bringing out all of Sonic's joy, and that's a good thing. Unfortunately, this fun did not last, because at the end of all the fun, there was something he hadn't seen for quite some time. "Is that...Robotnik?" he noticed. Once he got closer to the unidentified object, he realised it was indeed Robotnik, in his Egg Mobile.

"Sonic? Is that you?" Robotnik asked, looking at Sonic. "Whoever you are, get away from here! I'm busy!"

"Heh heh. Robotnik, you haven't changed a bit. What sort of plan you hatching this time? World Domination, like usual?" Sonic jokily and seriously asked, at the same time.

"Why should I tell you anything? You're now at my mercy! However, you did find me earlier then I thought. Looks like I'll have to use this again, since the one machine I'm preparing for you is still in progress. Take this, Hedgehog!" Robotnik intimidated. His Egg Mobile's underside opened up, and revealed a Spherical Ball. "You'll have to face my Wrecking Ball again!"

"This again? 'Buttnik, you really are an easy Egg to crack!" Sonic joked, jumping on one of the platforms and striking Robotnik in the Pilot seat.

"Agh! Not this again! I'll get you!" Robotnik threatened, but to no avail. "Time for a new technique I worked out with this!" Robotnik flipped his Egg Mobile round at exactly 180 Degrees, making the Wrecking Ball hit Sonic at a great force.

"Whoa...I see you learnt some new tricks! But can an old dog like you keep up?" Sonic mocked, as he sped to the other platform and hit the Robotnik again. This cycle kept going on, until Sonic's speed helped him win take down Robotnik's Wrecking Ball. The titular thing fell off due to the explosion that followed his defeat. "Heh, take that, 'Buttnik!"

"You'll pay for this, Sonic! You will pay! For now, I shall be seeing you at a later time!" Robotnik yelled to his enemy, flying off in a certain direction.

"It was good to beat Robotnik again after all this time. I was starting to miss his face when I embarass him! Heh heh, I crack myself up." Sonic joked to himself. He then noticed that the time was getting close to night, since the Sun was nowhere in sight. "I need to get myself back home, before Tails and Luster start worrying!" But before the azul Hedgehog could start running at the Speed of Sound, a Mobian that was signalling him caught his attention.

"Uh, excuse me Sir! Did you just defeat that evil person?" the stranger asked.

"Yep, that was me." Sonic answered. "Why?"

"Well, thanks! He was becoming a nuisance to our people, but it's glad to see that he's gone. Which way did he fly off to?" the Mobian replied. Sonic answered his question by pointing towards the Egg Mobile, that appeared to be a small dot from where they were standing. "Ah! That's towards the Casino Street."

"Casino Street? You mean like a Casino sort of area, with giant Slot Machines?" Sonic asked, intruiged.

"Yeah, that's it. You're currently in Splash Hill. On this island, there are many places. I've also heard of a ruin-cave like area called the Lost Labrynth. I'm not sure what to make of it, except that it can get dark in there. If your adventure leads you to Lost Labrynth, then do be careful, as rumours say that it's full of puzzles. But knowing your courage in defeating that scientist, you should get through it no problem!"

"Thanks, stranger! I'll be sure to remember that!" Sonic thanked, giving the stranger a thumbs-up. "I need to get going now, see you later!"

"Goodbye, stranger!" the Mobian waved.

"Could you please stop calling me stranger? I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic asked.

"Oh, sorry, Sonic. Goodbye then, Sonic the Hedgehog! May your future endeavors be safe!" the Mobian corrected himself. With that, Sonic gave him another thumbs-up, and ran off, back out of Splash Hill. With all of the enemies that were destroyed, there was nothing stopping Sonic from getting back to his house. Once he did get back, he opened the Door, and as he closed it, he was met with the happy faces of Tails and Luster.

"Hey Sonic! How was your run?" Tails asked.

"It was good. Also, guess who's back and ready to dominate the world?" Sonic asked.

"What? Robotnik's back? Even after the beating we gave him last time?" Tails questioned. _How could Robotnik be back? It's impossible..._

"Yep. I found him in this place called Splash Hill. He said I got to him early, so he had to reuse one of his old machines. Though he did learn a new trick, I still managed to beat him. It was way too easy." Sonic explained.

"Really? You just coming back here for the night?" Tails continued to ask.

"Uh-huh." Sonic nodded. He then crouched down so that his height would match Luster's. "How ya doing, Luster?"

"I'm good! I helped out Tails with something, but that's all." Luster answered.

"Cool! You have a nice rest, okay?" Sonic told him. Luster nodded, and retreated to his Bed in the Bedroom. The Hedgehog then stood back up, and asked Tails, "You been good?"

"Yeah. I'm quite worn out, though. But otherwise good. You?" Tails asked.

"Pretty much the same, except that I'm not worn out." Sonic joked. This caused his Fox friend to laugh a little.

"Will you be going back there when you wake up?" Tails questioned.

"No, I'll check up on you guys first, then I'll go. I can't let 'Buttnik's new scheme from getting any worse. I could just go now, but I now I'll be there within a flash, anyway." Sonic replied.

"Okay then. Goodnight!" Tails said.

"Night!" Sonic said, as Tails went into the Bedroom. After that, he went back up on the Roof, and started sleeping himself, but not before thinking his tomorrow through first. _So...Casino Street tomorrow. I probably will have to go as fast as I can, because Robotnik's probably learnt by now. I need to be well energised before I go on another adventure! _He thought, closing his Eyes, and going to sleep.


	6. Neon City, Adrift in the Night

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters, settings and other things are all owned by SEGA. However, I own Luster the Cat. No stealing.

After the battle between Sonic and Robotnik at the Splash Hill, the loser was Robotnik, as always.

"You'll pay for this, Sonic! You will pay! But for now, I shall be seeing you at a later time!" Doctor Robotnik yelled to his enemy, flying off in a random direction. However, the Scientist knew exactly where he waa going. _Sonic won't get to me through the Casino Street! I'll just make sure to deploy my Badniks first, then I'll get my machine ready. _A few minutes of flying in the Egg Mobile passed, and the Casino Steet was within view. He pressed a button on his flying Machine, and soon afterwards, a large amount of Robotnik's Robots came swarming Casino Street. "Excellent! I certainly programmed Protocol into them very well!" Robotnik then made his way to the back of a Slot Machine, and pressed another Button, which alerted one of the nearby Robots to come do whatever task it's master had for it. A Batbot answered the call. "Rig all of the Slot Machines in this place to be able to harm the user when they get 3 Robotnik Faces!" the evil genius ordered.

"Yes, sir." Batbot answered, in a robotic voice. It did it's orders, while Robotnik flew off.

"Things are going well! Now to wait at the end for Sonic..." He remarked, flying towards the end of the Casino Street.

**Meanwhile, at Sonic's House...**

Sonic had already woken up, and was proceeding to enter the House. In the hallway, he noticed that nobody was waiting for him. "Heh, Tails and Luster must be asleep. I'll wake them up, and then get to Casino Street." He told himself. As he went into the Bedroom, his thoughts were confirmed. "Oh, okay then. Guys, I'm going now. See you later!" After that, he went back outside, and started sprinting towards where he remembered Splash Hill was. Luckily, his memories treated him well, as he found Splash Hill within minutes. "Where is this Casino Street? I'm sure I won't have to go through this place again." he asked, looking in the distance for any Casino-like area. "Hey, there's one, right there!" Towards the West, there was precisely what seemed to be what Sonic was after. He sped towards it, and was met with a huge City-like place. For some reason, the Sky was dark, even though it's day. "Wow, this place looks like Casino Night! Cool!" Sonic loved Casino Night just for the incredible party-feeling the place gave off. "Right, let's get it on! I'm going to have to go fast for this one!"

Casino Street started off with a straight path, with a curved wall taking him to another, eventually leading him to an open area, that turned out to be what looks like a Pinball Machine. Not wanting to get distracted, he moved up to a platform via a couple of Bumpers and a Flipper. After that, there was a fall that was slightly blocked off by a bunch of Green Tiles. Sonic attempted to make his way over, but his sense of placement was faulty, and ended up falling to another Platform down below. Said Platform led to a Crawl Badnik. "These guys again? Wow, Robotnik's really losing his sense of originality." Sonic jumped over it, and Homing Attack the back of the 'bot, which destroyed it. He then fell down the wall the Platform was on, but the momentum from the fall led Sonic to run quickly above another curved wall, which took him to a Spring-like thing, which sent him around a loop, and above to a different area, with a bunch of Bubble Badniks acting as targets for Sonic to use to get to a less dangerous area. On that bit of Ground that he landed on, was another Spring-thing. This time, it sent the Blue Hedgehog up to a bunch of Triangular-shaped Bumpers which pushed him to an area with a Flipper that took him to a higher Platform, which then ended up with him Spin Dashing on a curved wall to get to another Spring-thing. This one took the Hedgehog to a sloped wall, and that led to a Flipper. However, Sonic's timing on the Flipper was rubbish, so it took him to an area with a bunch of Platforms that moved up and down. More of these moving Platforms created a sort of Tower. More and more of Casino Street eventually guided the 'hog to two more Spring-things, which in turn took him around a loop and to another Flipper. A succesful use of this one launched Sonic to a large, open area. "Wow, that was pretty wild! And I've hardly fully explored this place! What will I see in the next area?" he asked himself, as the large open ground became sloped, at the bottom of which, a Spring which sent Sonic up a curved wall. What sparked the Blue Blur's interest was that a group of giant Playing Cards standing in front of him, and running past them showed various pictures of himself, Robotnik, and a Gold Ring with the Number 10 inside it. Sonic had no idea what they did, and didn't pay too much mind to it. More Playing Cards were shown for the rest of the area, but others did different jobs. Cards that were placed face up next to a wall could be used as a Platform, but not when they were placed forwards. This was an annoyance towards the Hedgehog, as the Cards were always forwards for him, and with the fact that he needed to get through to Robotnik as fast as he could, time was wasted. Another job wasn't actually a single Card, but a whole Deck of them. When they get Homing Attacked approximately three times, the Deck inched forward, but the last hit led to the Deck becoming like a road for Sonic to run upon until he got to the next bit of running Ground. Sonic could not get his head round the logic behind it, but pressed on anyway. All of the area contained Card related things, but the last sector stood out. The sort of Cards that act as Platforms were dotted around, but didn't prove too much of a challenge. Eventually, a Road of Cards led him to another large path, which ended with a slope that took him inside. A Cannon was within sight, and Sonic instantly recognised it. "Hey, this looks like the Cannons from Carnival Night. Cool!" He jumped inside it, and realised that this time he could control the aim, which was very handy. Rings were in the Air, so the Hedgehog decided to get them, and discovered that they were actually acting as a guide for where to go. Another one led to a couple of up and down moving Platforms, which led him to higher ground. Another Cannon with Ring Guides led to a bunch of Bubbles, which Sonic used to get to yet again, a Cannon. Two more moving Platforms led the Blue Blur to the outside, where he used his speed to get away from many Batbots. A curved wall, and three Springs (one on the ground, and two on the walls), led the Blue Hedgehog to a Spring-thing, that had launched him towards a few Triangular Bumpers, and those took him to a bunch of Barrel-like objects that moved up and down, all in unison. Sonic couldn't help think he once saw something like this before, but couldn't quite remember where. Once he got up to the ground that the Barrels were taking him to, Springs and Cannons eventually guided the 'hog to a group of Bubbles. Many Springs, Curved Walls, Cannons, and Triangular Bumpers later, Sonic found himself at an area with a singular Cannon that could blast Sonic to various secrets. He didn't figure out the correct path until he fired upwards, in which a Triangular Bumper bumped him to a Platform, which then in turn took him to a higher ground, and a path that had a big space in the middle of it was the only obstacle to get to the other side. However, two Circular Bumpers assisted Sonic in the task, and awaiting on the other side was a Spring that launched him up to an up and down Barrel formation, one like before. After this particular one, the Azul Hedgehog led to a bunch of Cannons with Ring Guides. It was a complicated Puzzle, but with a little common sense and general thinking, it was solved. All Sonic had to do was to get from one Cannon to another, but they were so far apart, it was hard to tell where they were. It's even more harder inside the Cannon, as there is only a small space that you can see out of. With this drawback, failures were admitted very commonly to the poor Hedgehog. Once he left the difficult Puzzle, a line of Bubbles directed Sonic towards a Cannon, which fired upwards, to a very small bit of ground. Two Platforms helped Sonic to get to a much bigger platform. The ground kept going until he was dropped into a small, oval shaped part of Casino Street. "Huh? Hey, I'm stuck! Help me!" Sonic noticed, as he started running up the walls, hoping that there'd be a way out. Unfortunately, there wasn't. However, when he got back down to the Floor, Robotnik entered, on his latest machine.

"Sonic! Glad to see you made it! Now I can destroy you, with this revamped Catcher Mobile!" Robotnik announced.

"Catcher Machine? Isn't that what you called your machine back in Casino Night?" Sonic asked.

"Why yes, it is! As I said, it's revamped. That means I've added plenty of new attacks and techniques into it, ones that you'll never expect!" Robotnik replied.

"Heh, we'll see, 'Buttnik!" Sonic mocked, as Robotnik started moving his Catcher Machine left and right, akin to the battle from Casino Night. Sonic easily landed several Homing Attacks on the machine by running up the walls and jumping. "I thought you said you revamped this junk! I guess you've underestimated my new Homing Attack!"

"Not yet, Sonic!" Robotnik boomed. He made his Catcher Machine fly upwards, but Sonic still managed to land some hits. "Time for my new attack!" The catcher part of Robotnik's revamped machine started charging up some electricity. But before the attack could fire, Sonic ended the battle by using some more Homing Attacks on the Catcher, destroying it. "No...NO! Not again! I hate you, Sonic!" The evil Scientist then started flying off, in a direction that only he could make sense out of.

"Whatever, Robotnik! I'll be sure to stop your plan, no matter what that may be!" Sonic called. Robotnik heard, but didn't bother to reply as the genius was busy rambling on about the Blue Rodent. "I'll let him start up what he wants. Getting rid of it will be easy!"

**With Robotnik...**

"Agh, I better make sure he doesn't follow me to the Lost Labrynth! He doesn't seem to be chasing me yet though, so that's good. I have to make sure Metal gets it..." Robotnik said to himself. As he pressed a button on his Egg Mobile, he said, "Deploy Video-Bot!" Just then, a small Robot that had the ability to fly popped out from the underside of the Mobile. It was much faster then what Speed the Egg Mobile could do at this present time, as Sonic destroyed the Speed Boosters. "Video-Bot, to the Lost Labrynth! Find Metal Sonic, and make sure he gets to what we're looking for. I'll properly activate your Video-Mode when I get to the Mad Gear!" The Video-Bot did as Robotnik ordered, and started flying at high speeds towards a slightly Dark Yellow coloured place. Robotnik himself flew towards a green base, which was in construction for many months. The Scientist pressed another button on the Egg Mobile, and a part of the ground opened up, which was actually a pathway to the Control Room, where Robotnik ordered and maintained all of his Robots from. When he got inside, the secret hatch closed, and flew into the Control Room. Jumping out of the Mobile and sitting in the central Seat, another Button was pressed upon the Central Control Pad, which had turned on the Video-Bot's picture. The recieving picture was shown on the Main Screen, where it showed that the Video-Bot was currently in the Lost Labrynth. Going through the various mazes and Puzzles, (which weren't much because the Bot entered through the right side, which was the closest way to get to what Robotnik was looking for), Metal Sonic was found going through closed Doors. The path led Metal to a large room, with a powerful Purple Orb floating in the middle of it, and Robotnik ordered his best Robot to get it. Orders were followed, and suddenly, Metal's power improved massively, as it was shown with a large aura bursting out of the Robot. "Amazing! What great power! Now get back here to test it! You won't be needing it until the second phase of my Master Plan takes place! Ho-ho-ho!" Robotnik ordered. Metal nodded, and flew out of the way it came into the Lost Labrynth in the first place, with the Video-Bot in tow. Both 'bots then appeared in the Central Control Room minutes later. "Excellent. Go and practice your new power to the left. I'll line up some targets for you." Metal walked into the Door in the right, and was met with a large room. Out of nowhere, various easy to defeat Badniks entered the Room, Metal Sonic then summoned a large Energy Ball that instantly destroyed all of the Badniks when it came into contact with them. Over the intercom, Robotnik's voice was heard. "Well done! Use the Test Dummy on the other end of the Room if you wish to practice some more." Metal did just that.

"I should be getting to the Lost Labrynth. Sonic could be there at any minute!" Robotnik worried, as he climbed into the Egg Mobile, and flew out through the Secret Hatch.

**With Sonic...**

Sonic was simply laying down on the Ground of Casino Street, as he just wanted to relax. "That place was fun, but tough! I hope Lost Labrynth won't be as difficult. Looks like I'll have to find out for myself!" he said, breathing in and out.


	7. Ancient Maze of Mystery

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters, settings and other things are all owned by SEGA. However, I own Luster the Cat. No stealing.

"Right then, I'll get going to Lost Labyrinth. Robotnik must be there already." Sonic said, as he stood up. He started speeding off towards the beige coloured Building in the distance, and got there in no time at all, as he usually does. "Pretty bright for a Labyrinth. Last time I was in one, I had to avoid drowning! Let's hope this one won't be as annoying." He proceeded through the stage, being surprised as some Burrbot Badniks dug up from the Ground, hurting Sonic. They didn't last long, as the hedgehog Homing Attacked right through them, and continued upon his path. He wasn't shocked that Water was in fact present, but paid no mind to it. After all, ever since he was in a place like this, he learnt new techniques that would get him out of the liquid within moments. Praying that it wouldn't play a big role in taking him through Lost Labyrinth, he was shot up to a higher up Platform via two Springs, and then ran further into the stage. However, a large pit gained a sighting from the Blue Blur, but just as he was about to make his way to the other side, a giant Boulder fell down from the Ceiling, so the Mobian had to wait until it was done. Much, much more of these appeared through-out the area, but they didn't really prove to be tough. A combination of Springs and a Curved Wall led him to another link of Bubbles Badniks. As before, it was merely a Stepping Stone on his mission of finding Eggman. But, as he was running down a slope, two Boulders were rolling down the same slope, hoping to crush the 'hog. Luckily a Spring that took him to a group of Platforms prevented any crushing from happening, and going up the Platforms brought Sonic to a Boulder on what seemed to be some sort of Rail. Noticing that there is no way around the massive Pit, he figured going on the Boulder would work, and it did. Knowing nothing about balancing, the Azul Hedgehog did have a hard time getting to the other side, but otherwise did it. Lost Labyrinth had plenty more of these in store, but first, Sonic had to go through many Boulders that wanted to crush him in two ways; Falling Upon, and Running Over. None of this actually got to happen, as the Blue Hedgehog was smarter then that. He wasn't about to let anything, living or inanimate, crush him. Curved Walls and Springs gave Sonic more thrill, because they could actually help regulate his Speed. A Rolling Boulder on Rails section appeared, and Sonic cleared that, but was shocked to find that there was another right after. They didn't prove to be any trouble. "Hey, what's going on?" Sonic asked himself, as the Light in Lost Labyrinth appeared to fade, preventing the 'hog from seeing much. As if someone was toying with him, a lit Torch lay on the Ground. Out of common sense, he picked it up and started carrying it through-out the next part of the stage. The Torch helped Sonic to see where he was running, and apparently was able to light up some spots in the Wall to the side of him, meaning that he could see a bit more. More Spings, Slopes and Curved Walls pushed the Hedgehog through more of the 'Labyrinth, but eventually he came across a strange Box, with what seemed to be Explosives stuck in it. Looking all around for any Wiring, one was found in seconds, and Sonic lit it up with his Torch. This led to the Box being blown up, allowing the Mobian to advance. More of these appeared, and the Wiring just got easier to find. More Platforms, Springs and Bubbles later, and the Blue Blur found two more blow up-able Boxes, and as the first one exploded, the other one did at the exact same time, which was odd to him. A Spring at the end of a small slope launched Sonic to a Minecart, in which the Rails broke off at parts, meaning that he had to jump to get across the small Pits. Such an obstacle wasn't difficult to get through, but it was fun, according to Sonic. Lost Labyrinth still had plenty of tricks up it's sleeve, as more Spings, Curved Walls, Speed Boosters and Exploding Stone Boxes filled up the Labyrinth, creating some complex Puzzles that the Mobian Hedgehog managed to get through without too much trouble. One such Puzzle was one involving Walls and those things in the Wall that could contain the Fire on the Torch. It turns out that he had to light them up in a certain order, which made two Walls come out of the Ground, providing access to higher Ground. It took Sonic a while to figure this out, and was happy upon running away from the area. On the long path that followed, Burrbots tried to damage Sonic, but failed as the Hedgehog learnt his lesson from last time. He Spin Dashed through them all, instantly destroying said Badniks, and allowing Sonic great Speed. At one point, the Mobian had to do the exact same thing again, but with only one Wall. More Exploding Stone Boxes appeared, with the Wiring still easy to locate. Springs assisted in elavating the Azul 'Hog, which in turn uncovered some Wiring. Eventually, more Minecarts were within sight. The obvious thought to this would be to ride the Minecart as before, and that's exactly what Sonic did. After the ride ended, another one was right next to it. Then, the end of that one came and a long pathway was it. As the darkness lifted, the Torch wasn't really needed, so Sonic chucked it away, as he figured it may help someone else if they decide to explore the place. However, the next area confirmed his fears from the first part of the level. Water, and there was no way around it. Taking a deep breath, the Speedy Hedgehog blasted straight into the Liquid, and on a Platform that dived straight down. Underwater Badniks were present, but they weren't trying to attack Sonic, so he didn't bother with them. Eventually, the path he was taking ended up going outside of the Water for a short bit. These few moments allowed our Hero to catch his breath, as he was about to go into the deep once again. As he was strolling about in there, he managed to find his way out by blasting through a Square-shaped Stone that was in a small, Water-filled Room. Another one appeared later on, as Sonic had to traverse through more Water, and go on Curved Walls and Speed Boosters. After the second Water-Room, Sonic reached a sort of crossroads, in which both sides had Water running down them. He took the right side, and via jumping, landed on a long Platform with a Switch at the end of it. Curious as to what it did, he pressed it, and went back on the Water Slope. Jumping again showed that a Wall had opened up due to the Switch from earlier. As if it were some sort of tradition, there was then a very long hallway, that in turn led to a large Room. In it, was the incredible Doctor Eggman, who was in his trademark Egg Mobile.

"Hello there, Sonic! Nice to see you here!" Eggman welcomed, fakingly happy.

"Hey, Eggman! What have you got for me to trash this time?" Sonic asked, in the same sort of manner.

"Ah well, yes and no. Yes, I do, and no, it's not in here. Try to catch me!" Eggman mocked, as he flew up a narrow path, riddled with Badniks, Platforms and obstacles.

"What? This again?" Sonic asked rhetorically, as he proceeded up the path, dodging all the hazards and attacking Eggman.

"Yes, this again! I saw how hard you had it last time, so I decided to bring it back! Ho-ho-ho!" Eggman replied, laughing. However, as he was, Sonic attacked him once again. Eventually, the path opened out to a much bigger room then before. "This is it, Sonic! Time to be trapped!" He pressed a button, and two Walls emerged from the Ground, making it so that nobody could get in or out.

"What the...? What are you doing, Eggman?!" Sonic asked, bewildered by the Scientist's actions. Suddenly, Platforms made their appearance from the Walls and the Ground, and he took this for a good opportunity to get his opponent. This plan worked.

"Agh! I can't let that happen again!" Eggman grunted, as he moved to accomodate the next move. Platforms emerged from the same place as before, and Sonic did the same as he did, with Eggman being hurt again. This cycle kept going on and on, but with different Platform formations. It didn't take long until Sonic won the battle, and Eggman suffered the same humiliating defeat. "No! I lost again, but this won't be the same forever!" He then flew away from the Lost Labyrinth, flying towards the Mad Gear; his base.

"Ha! Looks like I win, as always. Gotta get outta here, though." Sonic stated, as he ran out of the same way Eggman left, and supposedly entered. "What now? The only place I haven't been to yet is that green, Metropolis-like area. Didn't I hear Egghead talk about a 'Mad Gear'? Maybe that's it! Sounds like his base, or something. Looks like there's only one way to find out!" He then started speeding towards the Green place in the distance.

**Meanwhile, with Eggman...**

Eggman opened the secret hatchet that leads to his Control Room, and flew right inside. A couple of moments later, he was then in the room, and Metal Sonic was there to greet him.

"Master. Was the battle with my copy successful?" the Robot asked in a robotic voice.

"It didn't go so good. I lost, as usual." Eggman replied. "Also, he's heading for here. I need to make sure that he doesn't find this room." He got out of his Egg Mobile, and made his way towards the Main Computer. He pressed a button, and a Door opened back at the Control Room. "Make sure to press that Button again when I depart. Don't want the pesky little 'hog to get in here, and destroy it all."

"Yes, Master." Metal Sonic replied. The obese Scientist entered his Egg Mobile, and flew through the Door that recently opened. Metal then pressed the Button that was pressed to open it in the first place, and the Door instantly closed. It then entered the Training Room, and dimmed the lights, to give the Illusion that nothing was in there. "The final stages of this plan is going to commence soon. Master will take care of the foolish copy."

**Author Notes: **_Sorry for the incredibly short chapter, guys. This is just all building up for the chapter after the next chapter. In other words, Chapter 9 is going to be a biggie._


	8. Dr Eggman's Secret Base

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters, settings and other things are all owned by SEGA. However, I own Luster the Cat. No stealing.

_**A/N: Alright, before you start reading this chapter, I'm gonna reveal something I've been working on for this Fanfic. In the time I, and real life, have taken to create Chapter 8, I decided a theme for the whole Fanfic in general might be a decent idea. So here is the official Luster the Cat Theme!**_

_"*Guitar intro of sorts, lasts 30 seconds*_

_A blinding road, leading up to adventure,_

_Catering for the greatest tale,_

_Leechin' out, on this great venture,_

_Rollin' down on the rail,_

_Gotta keep this in-line, get this under_

_Control._

_I know what I must be doing,_

_Protecting a youthful soul,_

_Not letting his innocence be his undoing,_

_Running right through this pole._

_'Cause I have to..._

_Protect the young one!_

_Not to get stuck like glue,_

_Gotta protect the young one!_

_Have to see him through,_

_Need to protect the young one!_

_I see a lot in him,_

_Reachin' out for the young one!_

_Making his future...today!_

_However he managed to get away,_

_From that uncertain mecha,_

_There must be something deep inside,_

_He may be strong,_

_But he won't be,_

_If I'm not there for him._

_Me and my friend here have to..._

_Shield the young one!_

_From the horror of life,_

_Safeguard the young one!_

_Make him strong!_

_*Guitar solo, 45 seconds*_

_'Cause I have to..._

_Protect the young one!_

_Not to get stuck like glue,_

_Gotta protect the young one!_

_Have to see him through,_

_Need to protect the young one!_

_I see a lot in him,_

_Reachin' out for the young one!_

_Making his future...today!_

_All this is goin' on as I battle,_

_An evil scientist, called Eggman_

_(Or 'buttnik.)_

_I'm sure if I try, yeah, that'll_

_Work, man._

_I'm sure Tails sees this too._

_We both gotta..._

_Protect the young one!_

_Not to get stuck like glue,_

_Gotta protect the young one!_

_Have to see him through,_

_Need to protect the young one!_

_I see a lot in him,_

_Reachin' out for the young one!_

_Making his future...today!_

_*30 second Guitar solo*_

_Making his world..._

_*bit of drums here, lasts 15 seconds*_

_Tails: Yeah!_

_Sonic: Woohoo! Come on Tails, let's beat Eggy and raise Luster to be strong!_

_Tails: Alright!"_

_**I hope you enjoyed that. I can't create a video of me, singing this, because I don't have a very good voice recording device. Either I'm going to have to get someone else to sing this, or I'll have to wait until I get a very good device, capable of capturing my voice perfectly. I doubt that, however, so I'll have to go for the former. The lyrics are subject to change every now and then, remember that. I probably won't post this song before the start of every chapter, but perhaps once every five, starting from 10? Sounds like an idea.**_

So far in his most recent adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog has ventured through many locations, each of them brought back memories of previous places he's been to. Right now, Sonic is speeding towards the Mad Gear, which is also where Dr. Eggman's new base is. What he had to go through to get here were truly marvelous places.

First off was the Splash Hill. Boasting in many similarities to the Green Hill and Emerald Hill from South Island and Westside Island (respectively), it gave Sonic many thrills and chills as he sped right through it. Shuttle Loops, plenty of Springs and not much platforming, Sonic could really show off his abilities to the inhabitants of the place. Because he was going so fast and showing off too much, at the end of Splash Hill, the Blue Hedgehog managed to find Dr. Eggman, and before long, a battle ensued. Sonic won, of course, which made the mad Scientist retreat. The 'hog then returned to his home to spend the night with Tails and Luster, then sped off for the next area.

Afterwards was the Casino Street. A calming place, themed with many playing cards of unusual sizes. As this is similar to Casino Night and Carnvial Night, Sonic couldn't resist attempting to get a load of gold Rings, with all the copious amounts of Slot Machines that were dotted about. There was plenty of room for the Blue 'Hog to strut his stuff, and it contained a level of certain difficulty. It was a very lovable place that even now Sonic wants to go back to; but he knows he must foil Ivo's plans first. The evil scientist Dr. Eggman was again at the end of the street, and posed another similar challenge. Very familiar strategies were used, but ultimately, Sonic won. Again. He then sped after the good doctor, whom was now flying away in his Egg Mobile.

The chase led the Azul Hedgehog to Lost Labyrinth, a zone where at first, was similar to Labyrinth, from South Island. Posing more of a puzzling threat, Lost Labyrinth delievered what it's cousin laid out onto the table. Sonic didn't have as much room to run in, and even some of the various traps and Badniks got to him in the sense of pain. Even his worst nightmare - water - was present. And guess what? Sonic had to go right through water in order to proceed. He had to swallow his fears for a few short moments. When I say that, I'm not kidding. Long stretches of water were layed out in various spots. The hedgehog managed to keep this up for a long amount of time, until he met up with Eggman once more. The first part of the battle consisted of Eggman flying up a long path, with Sonic in tow. Eventually, it cleared out, and Sonic had to use various platforms to attack the Scientist, who was in the air (obviously). After the fight ended with Sonic's victory, Eggman once again retreated to Mad Gear, as Sonic chased him.

Here we are, the Mad Gear. The last stretch until Ivo is defeated. A green, machine filled paradise (for mechanics and quite possibly robots) filled to the brim with Eggy's most annoying 'Niks. Splicers, Asterons and Shellcrackers. Previously in Metropolis, these Badniks gave Sonic and Tails a whole lot of trouble, but their teamwork proved to get the better of the 'bots. This time, Sonic is alone. A moving platform took our hero up to a Spring, which then in turn elavated him to a steam-pumping Pump. That took Sonic to a small stretch of land, in which a bunch of Bubbles directed the 'hog to a Conveyor Belt. Awaiting at the end was a Pump that raised Sonic to another stretch of land, guarded by a Shellcracker. A Homing Attack easily finished it off. He then proceeded to run in the small Shuttle Loop, then in another that went downwards. Soon afterwards, another Shuttle Loop that took Sonic back up a little went right into another one that set him on the correct way. Building up a whole load of speed, the Blue Hedgehog sped right down a large slope, in which sent him right through the air and to a bit of land, in which halted with a smaller slope. Sonic decided to jump over the pit and to a special Tube that teleported him to another part of the zone. Upon exiting it, our speedy hero managed to get a boost in speed, which assisted in getting through another Shuttle Loop. A Pump onto a slope led him through two slopes and more Pumps and a Shuttle Loop that took him down a wall, and then onto another large slope eventually took him to terraced group of Pipes. They tried to launch Sonic in the air, but that failed as he was already past that obstacle by the time that the first Pump released Steam. He cleverly dodged a Splicer's claws, and destroyed it with a Homing Attack. A couple of slopes, Pumps and Bubbles later, Sonic found himself upon a bit of land that he got to via a chain of Bubbles, and defeating a Shellcracker. A Pump was trying to push him into a set of Spikes, but then Homing Attack on the Spring that the Steam was consealing. Once Sonic got a lift by a machine, a collection of Pumps and Bubbles helped to get him to a small section of land that quickly turned into a slope that brought the Hedgehog to a Pump, in which he destroyed. A similar thing to the Pumps and Bubbles elavation occured, but instead there were more Bubbles, as if in a chain. A Splicer managed to get him to a platform that turned right into a slope. Pumps kept knocking Sonic back and forth, but at the end of that was another Pump that launched him up into the air. Taking advantage of this, he beat a Shellcracker using a Homing Attack, and sped along the path that was after it. Then, a thing the 'hog used for a lift numerous times so far lifted (bet you didn't see that coming) him to see that a very long stretch of road is laid out before him, but all he had to do to get there is to speed past a bunch of the lift-things. Easy done then said, as Sonic was already speeding along that path.

This unusually long path ended with a slope, that drove the hedgehog right into a Spring. Using this elavation to his advantage, he landed on a Cog. "Now this is what I call familiar." Sonic stated, as the experienced the Cog rotate. Eventually he found that two more Cogs that were right next to the one he was on were there to help him get to the next bit of Mad Gear, onto a platform. This one had a Switch on it, and when Sonic stepped on it, another platform shot out of a wall, allowing him to get to a Spring, that took him within Homing Attack range of a Bubbles. Again using the hovering Badnik as a target to get to a teleporting Pipe. This took the 'hog to a stretch of land that contained two Splicers. Fortunately, Sonic was already going fast enough (due to the speed boost of the Pipe's outgoing force), and decided to roll, which made quick work of the annoying old 'bots. A Spring was at the end, which shot the Blue Blur over a large, seemingly bottomless pit, and to a set of Cogs. Upon the platform that was at the end of the Cogs, were a couple of Splicers that yet again, Sonic made easy work out of. Speeding far across the floor and through another Shuttle Loop, down and up a slope, he found himself on another set of Cogs, trying to get to a certain destination. After all that, Sonic landed right on a much larger Cog. It appeared to be on a track, and was a different colour. Running leftwards revealed to the azul hedgehog that the speed he was going at made the Cog spin towards a chain of Bubbles, but not before going through a group of Asterons. Dodging their spikes were not difficult at all, especially at the speed he was going at already. The pair of Bubbles that were there allowed Sonic to Homing Attack a Spring, which then brought him to a small path that ended with a Cog. That brought him to a higher path, that also ended abruptly by a Cog. This time, it was suspended in the air, and beyond it were a pair of those lift-like things. He used them to get to a much higher path that collided into a slope, and so managed to obtain a higher speed, due to the downforce. Down a Shuttle Loop, and up some slopes and a Spring, once again, Sonic found himself on another on-track Cog. This time, he had to avoid a group of Splicers, but that wasn't really challenging to him. Not one bit. As soon as the thought of failing crossed his mind, he was already onto a platform in which he accessed by rolling the Cog up against another one, opening a closed wall. He then had to climb up various platforms and a Cog to get to the next part, as well as defeating an awkwardly positioned Shellcracker. Then, Sonic sped down a slope and Homing Attacked a Spring, shooting him to another on-track Cog. However, the track was going downwards, and in order to get the Cog moving downwards, he had to speed towards the right. Again, Asterons tried to ruin Sonic's day. And to make things much more like the previous time, Sonic sped right past them, and into a path, guarded by a Splicer. Fortunately, Sonic took it out before it could actually do anything. A wall was just about opening, so our hero decided to wait for a few short seconds, and sped right through it. This led right down a couple of slopes, two Shuttle Loops, and up another slope. A Switch revealed a group of short platforms, in which Sonic had to get onto each one in order to reach a Spring, which then boosted the hedgehog to another Spring. This happened again and again, until a slope was reached. At the end was a bunch of breakable metal, which had cluttered up a small area. Clearing the metal up like it was dust, hanging in the corner of a room, Sonic fell to a track-bound Cog. This was a horizontal track. There were no Badniks to prevent our blue hedgehog from getting to the end, of which contained another Cog-powered wall. Opening it revealed a room that he had to go through to get to a Spring. In no time at all, he did just that and found out that the Spring would lead him to a long path, that would end up as a long slope. Eventually the path came the right way up, but then a small slope launched the Azul Hedgehog up in the air, which made a long chain of Bubbles and Splicers in the range of Sonic's Homing Attack. Truly a useful technique. Anyway, using various platforms and perfectly positioned gold Rings allowed Sonic to get to another Cog that was on a vertical track. The obstacles this time were Splicers, and going from the bottom to the top, Splicers are most certainly a large hurdle to jump over. Luckily, they managed to give themselves an opening, so the hedgehog could easily Homing Attack them, making things a bit more easier for himself. Upon the top, more Splicers were awaiting for their 'deaths', so Sonic cleared them out within seconds, and found himself placed in the middle of a tricky puzzle. However, things were cleared once he took a good look at it. "So...three Springs here, two on both sides, with a large space in between them, and a platform with the third Spring in the middle of it. I got it!" Sonic exclaimed, as he Homing Attacked the Spring on the left. As he was nearing the right side of the room, he targeted the Spring in the middle. This launched him far upwards, until he reached another, much larger stretch of the floor. Using a Speed Booster that was nearby, Sonic ran along this path, enjoying the colossal amount of space he had to run in. Unfortunately, this didn't last for long, as the next area tested Sonic's speed and skills to the maximum.

**Meanwhile, with Dr. Eggman...**

"Argh! That hedgehog's getting closer and closer to where I am!" Eggman exclaimed, watching Sonic's perilous attempts to locate his nemesis. He was doing this via his Video Bot. "Impossible! I'm going to have to put up the wall of Impending Doom! As cliché as that sounds, I'm just gonna have to deal with it." He pressed a button on his Egg Mobile, which then created a giant, beige wall of deadly, mechanical saws that could easily slice away at anybody's bones. "Even Sonic won't be able to match the speed of this! Ho-ho-ho-ho!"

**Back with Sonic...**

Sonic was still running along the very long path, when out of nowhere, he heard a massive rumbling sound, followed by a crashing sound. Not seeing this anywhere infront of him, Sonic turned round to find out that a massive, yellow-silver coloured wall, compiled of metal Saws. And it was heading straight for him. "Whoa! I gotta get going!" Sonic cried out, speeding off in the direction that the wall was going in. He used two Steam Pumps to get to a higher platform, but the wall was still chasing the hedgehog, and the hedgehog was still running away. He sped past a bunch of large mechanical tubes that could easily crush the strongest of Mobians. Once past that, he jumped on a Spring and used a group of small, bounceable triangles to elavate himself to a bit of higher ground. Using two Bubbles to avoid a Pump that would push him towards the Impending Doom Wall, he used a second one to get to a Speed Booster, one that would send him zooming up a slope, and high in the air, and just through a tube that was just about to flatten the hedgehog, before it got into a teleporting Pipe. It sent our hero towards a Pump, and this allowed him to reach a set of Cogs, and a Shellcracker. The Impending Wall appeared to be taking it's time, 'eating up' the base. The path that followed led right to a small-ish group of small platforms. Each of these move from either horizontal, or diagonal, depending on which way Sonic wanted them to be. This was easy enough, because the end was a simple drop to the floor, with a Spring that would make Sonic go at a fast speed. He did use this to his advantage, and ended up going on a Pump's outburst of steam, bringing him up to a Conveyor Belt. It was leading him towards a small block of metal, in which Sonic disposed of as if it were a simple house-task. Following that was another Conveyor Belt, but seeing as the Impending Wall was gaining up on him, he decided to speed directly for the next bit, which was a room full of Conveyor Belts. He eventually discovered a Switch, that when pressed, would open up a wall on the other side of the room. Going faster, Sonic went right through the path, and landed in a massive slope that wouldn't assist Sonic in anyway possible. It only helped the Impending Wall, but our Blue Blur quickly realised that, and Spin Dashed right over it, and onto a stretch of land, with a load of those massive tubes from earlier. These didn't pose much of a threat, since Sonic was already beyond them all. A group of four nearly manged to squish him, but failed, as he was already on the next bit of the place. A teleporting Pipe boosted Sonic across a small slope, that akin to the others in Mad Gear, launched him in the air, and straight to where he needed to go. Smashing a bit of metal and falling into the steam of the Pump that was directly underneath, Sonic landed on a vertical, on-track Gear. A couple of those small, brown, mechanical platforms from earlier got Sonic to a very small platform, but with a high-speed Homing Attack, landed on a bit of land that skipped a bit that would really help the deadly wall. Over a couple of lift-things and onto a Spring, brought the Azul 'Hog to another stretch of land. More bounceable triangles helped Sonic in getting to a Speed Booster atop a large plot of land, which got him up a slope. The same thing occured right after, but it went to the right instead of the left, as the former did. More slopes and a pair of steam-powered Pumps brought him to another group of those small, controllable platforms. However, if Sonic were to choose the wrong direction, he'd fall into a set of Spikes. This hazard was avoided, and dropped to a selection of land. A slope then put Sonic on another slope, where the wall was getting very close to our hero. Eggman was tensely packed to his small screen, just hoping that Sonic would slip into his chaos. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for our hero, that didn't happen. Sonic was now using a chain of Bubbles to get to another touch of the floor, which then broke off into two slopes, and a Spring. Our laidback, reckless hero got over the slopes and on the Spring, which resulted in him going to a group of those massive tubes. Failing in their objective, Sonic managed to speed down a slope, and get directed to another small, thin platform puzzle. Spikes were back as hazards, but didn't really pose as much of a threat as they did before. Just barely escaping the wall, Sonic sped out onto a large path. Looking back, the Impending Wall appeared to have stopped, unlike Sonic, who was still running on the flat surface.

This kept up until a familiar face popped in. "Eggman!" Sonic shouted, just noticing his enemy.

"Sonic! You've avoided my Impending Wall...now it's time, where your adventure ends!" Eggman threatens. He then pressed a button on his trusty Egg Mobile, summoning various bubble-like things to orbit the mobile itself. "Take this!"

"Ha! This old trick won't work, even with any new strategy you have!" Sonic mocked, making the most fun he can get out of this moment.

"I disagree!" Eggman replied, moving the Egg Mobile towards Sonic. Avoiding the pain, our hero moves out of the way and Homing Attacks Eggman himself. "Argh!" This was when he tried that same tactic, but was met with the same fate.

"Didya really think that would work twice?" Sonic taunted.

"Quiet! I've had enough. Time to unleash what I like to call, Phase 2 of our little fight!" Eggman announced, pressing another button that caused the bubble-like objects around his Egg Mobile to dissapear. Then he flew upwards, and then away from the 'arena'. Instinctively, Sonic chased after the balding smart person. "Try and get me now!" As he said this, Eggman threw one of the many bubble like things towards Sonic. When popped, it revealed an object that looked very similar to Eggman in his Egg Mobile, but much smaller, and in a bubble-shape. Dodging that, Sonic quickly used a Homing Attack to strike the Egg Mobile.

"You were saying?" Sonic asked.

"Curse you! Here, have some more!" Eggman yelled, throwing out two more of the same thing he threw out earlier. This just resulted in the mad scientist in taking another Homing Attack to his hovering machine. Again and again, time after time, this continuously repeated. The type of thing even changed, as a much faster, and heavier bubble came out. It nearly got Sonic, but the blue hedgehog was just far too elusive for it. Eventually, the Egg Mobile recieved sufficent damage for it to be classed as 'in dire need to repairing'. Anybody could clearly see that, so Eggman got himself out of there, with the hedgehog not realising where he had gotten to. The fight was over; Sonic the Hedgehog had won again. But just before the victor left Mad Gear, an announcement came over a sort of PDA like thing. It was Eggman.

"_Sonic the Hedgehog. Our previous encounters ended in the place above the stratosphere. Space. Now, you'll have to make your way up here if you want to finish our fight. You'll be battling me in the E.G.G Station. I'll see you there, if you even can. Ho-ho-ho!_" Eggman announced over the speakers.

"Aw, man. Eggman's in space! Last time we had to get to the Death Egg, Tails and I had to use the Tornado, but I don't think that's ready for another go in space. Tails did mention he had some stuff to do with it...So how am I gonna get to this 'station'...Tails has got to have something that I can use." Sonic mentioned to himself. After this moment of thinking aloud, he left the Mad Gear, and sped right for his home in the Mystic Ruins.

Before long, he was at the front door. Knocking on it, he recieved a welcome back from his best friend, Miles Prower, who preferred to be called 'Tails'. Shutting the door, Sonic asked Tails a question. "Hey Tails, can I ask you something quickly?"

"Sure. If you asked me something slowly, I would then worry." Tails answered. A grin was shared between the pair, then Sonic broke the laughter after it died down by asking another question.

"Have you got anything that can go into space? Eggman wants to finish the fight with me in something he called the Egg Station. Surprised he's not using the Death Egg." Sonic asked.

"Hmm, the Tornado's currently in repairs. It's been in space far too long, and the constant change between space and the atmosphere managed to damage the inside of the plane, as I explained to you earlier." Tails explained. "However, I have been working on something that shouldn't be as badly effected by space as the Tornado was. However, it can't be driven as well, but it does land very easily. I'm about 75% done with it."

"Cool! So shall I just sit back and wait until you finish?" Sonic asked, eager to relax.

"Sure! It won't really be too long, just need to tie up some bits, and add something. Talk to Luster, he's been missing you." Tails suggested, nodding. Sonic gave his pal his trademark thumbs-up, and left for the Bedroom. There, Luster was sitting upon his bed, out of boredem. He appeared to be waiting for something.

"Hey, Luster!" Sonic exclaimed, upon entering the room.

"Sonic!" Luster replied, with a large amount of enthusiasm. "Did you beat Eggman?"

"No, not yet. He wants me to come to space, just like our last few battles." Sonic explained to his younger friend.

"Oh, that's a shame. Don't worry, I know you can beat him!" Luster comforted.

"Thanks, Luster. Were you just about to go to sleep?" Sonic asked.

"Uh, I was waiting for Tails to put me to sleep, but you can do it if you want." Luster replied.

"Okay." Sonic nodded. Luster laid down on his bed, as Sonic tucked the cover onto the cyan-coloured Cat. "Bedtime story?"

"Yes, please." Luster answered.

"Alright. Once there once this boy who had amazing powers, powers that nobody else in the world had. There was a powerful enemy he was trying to beat, but never could. He kept training for years and years, but his enemy always beat him. One day, that boy gained an amazing power boost, and felt he was able to beat his enemy. He did. Do you want to know how he did?" Sonic explained.

"How?" Luster asked.

"By being the best he could be, and kept training. Everything he did was with a bit of training, because even hardwork, and believing in yourself, can give you the power to defeat anybody." Sonic replied. "Of course, there are some who can never understand that, but with the right teachers, even you can, Luster. Goodnight." He turned off the light, and Luster slowly drifted to sleep.


	9. Final Showdown in Space

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog computer game franchise. All characters that originate from that series belong to SEGA. However, only I own Luster the Cat. Nobody else does. Furthermore, no thieves please.

**A/N: Don't forget to check Chapter 8 for a theme for this Fan-Fiction. Oh, if anybody is an artist and is pretty good, could you perhaps draw Luster for me? I can't draw for my life and afterlife, let alone drawing a character. Even if it is my own creation. If you'd like to and you have done so already, please Private Message me about it. Don't forget to Review.**

The Mad Gear proved to be a toughening challenge for Sonic the Hedgehog. He had to experience the uses of Conveyor Belts, Cogs, Switches, and all sorts of machine-related gimmicks. Clearly a visual representation of Dr. Eggman's mind, whenever he is thinking scientifically. Sonic could recognise many similarites to Metropolis, a previous Eggman base and a local machine paradise, native to Westside Island. At the end, Ivo himself was awaiting for another challenge, but the blue hero beat him like it was no problem. When he was just about to make his departure, a message came over Mad Gear's intercom system.

"_Sonic the Hedgehog. Our previous encounters ended in the place above the stratosphere. Space. Now, you'll have to make your way up here if you want to finish our fight. You'll be battling me in the E.G.G Station. I'll see you there, if you even can. Ho-ho-ho!_"

Dr Eggman wishes to battle Sonic the Hedgehog, his arch nemesis, inside his fresh, newly built E.G.G Station. A space station, of a large size. Why would Eggman want to battle Sonic here? Maybe...maybe it'll be revealed. But who knows? You'll have to wait and see.

With Sonic the Hedgehog, he recently returned home to visit Tails the Fox and Luster the Cat, his two friends, and also to find out if Tails has any creations that is capable to going into space. The Tornado, the usual bi-plane that they take pretty much everywhere cannot make another visit to the final frontier, because of the amount of times it has been there already. Tails explained that if it were to go into space for an extended period of time again, the insides of the plane would mess up, causing the plane to be unrideable for a while. Luckily, something else that will be more effective then the Tornado is in production. Tails was already creating it as Sonic was out, fighting Eggman. What are the chances that Sonic would need it? Currently, Sonic is speeding around the Mystic Ruins, awaiting for Tails to give the heads-up. Luster is also sleeping.

"Man, when is he gonna be done? I have to beat Eggy soon at the E.G.G Station." Sonic rhetorically asked himself, impatiently. He was speeding up and down the large mountain range that was nearby. What else was a super speedy hedgehog to do whilst waiting? Once the circling of the mountains was done (which didn't take very long, knowing him), he headed straight for the main centre part of the ruins, if Tails was waiting for him there. At first, he wasn't, but just as Sonic was about to turn round to return to the mountain range, a yellow Fox flew towards him.

"I'm done, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, as he landed behind his best buddy.

"Alright! Thanks, Tails!" Sonic thanked, as he thumbs-uped his Fox pal. After this exchange of words occured, the Blue Blur sped back to his home, with the two-tailed Fox in tow. They both entered the workshop, and witnessed a masterpiece. Well, what would be a masterpiece in a mechanic's eyes. What they both saw was a red-painted Rocket, with a 'logo' of two tails, which were actually Tails' own tails.

"Pretty cool huh? It's something I decided to make whilst I was bored. I've always wanted to see what it was like, dabbling with Rockets. I did some workarounds, and managed to get it done. It may have no seat, but you'll just have to make do with that setback. There are handles you can hold onto, which allow you to control the flight path. I even added a mode for easy landings. Just press this blue button here, and you won't have to do a thing to land it." Tails explained. "I call it the Tails Rocket."

"Heh, it's awesome. Now to go beat Eggman, once and for all! Well, until the next time, but you get what I mean." Sonic stated. Tails pressed a button in the workshop, and after a few short seconds, the door opened, allowing Sonic to take the Tails Rocket outside. Pressing the 'On' button and grabbing onto the handle, the rocket shot straight up into the air. From the ground below, Tails waved his friend goodbye and wished him the best of luck.

**In Space...**

"Alright, where's this E.G.G Station?" Sonic asked himself, as he turned the Rocket on it's side. Looking around, he notices a large object, almost like a building of sorts. Sonic figured that this was the E.G.G Station, so he flew the Tails Rocket straight towards it. When he got closer, the hedgehog pressed the button that would activate the 'Easy Landing' mode that Tails implemented. This made the rocket flip the right side up, and land safely on a platform that stuck out of the station. "Alright Eggman, prepare yourself!" He said, bravely speeding into the space station.

The E.G.G Station, the final frontier of Sonic and Eggman's latest battle. Time for the surprises.

"This place is nothing like the Death Egg. I guess Eggy got sick of the same thing over and over again! Ha!" Sonic joked with himself. The running stopped when Eggman popped down in his Egg Mobile.

"Sonic! I'm glad you made it. It's time for me to finish you off, once and for all! Take this!" Eggman barked, releasing a Wrecking Ball from the underside of his hovering machine.

"What? This...again? Don't you know how easy it was last time?" Sonic asked, trying to see any point in Eggman's madness. Without a reply from his nemesis, the blue hedgehog quickly jumped onto one of the two platforms that were positioned on both sides of the arena. He then proceeded to use a number of Homing Attacks, in which the largely scientist retaliated by using a Flip attack, previously used in Splash Hill. This was easily dodged by a simple jump, and because of the attack, left the Egg Mobile open for one last attack. A Spin Jump finished the Egg Mobile's Wrecking Ball mode off.

"Don't you think you won this whole battle just because you've won here!" Eggman said, flying away.

"Heh, sure." Sonic replied, running away, in the hope of finding Ivo. He eventually came across a high-speed Elevator, that could go in all sorts of directions, much unlike a real Elevator.

A section of flooring seperated Sonic and the next battlefield. It only took a quick run to get to it. The arena was similar to the one in Casino Street. In fact, it was exactly identical to the Casino Street one. Eggman popped in via the ceiling's entrance/exit. "Eggman! Don't tell me you're gonna use the same machines and techniques all over again?" Sonic asked.

"I can't tell you that. What I can tell you is a good way to fall at my hands!" Eggman bantered. He lowered himself to the lower portion of the room. Sonic quickly ran up the wall, and used a Spin Jump to attack the Egg Mobile. He used this tactic in the Casino Street battle - why wouldn't it work now? Luckily he managed to land in two more hits with this method, when suddenly Eggman rose back up to the higher portion of the area.

"Just because you're up there, doesn't mean I can't get you!" Sonic reminded the scientist. The hedgehog used one of the two Flippers that were located on the bottom half of the stage to strike Eggman once again, but that's when he unleashed the Catcher mode's special attack. It span around in a circle at an incredible speed, and started flinging itself all over the pinball table-like arena. Sonic dodged every attempt that was made to injure him, and eventually the attack ceased. This left it open for one last attack, and the super sonic warrior took that chance. The fight ended the same way the last one did, with Eggman flying away in the floating machine. "Sonic two, Eggman zero. What else does he have up his sleeve?" Sonic left the room the same way he did last time - through a high-speed elevator.

The next battlefield for the next fight was a fairly medium-sized, stretched out area. Sonic made his way in, and so did Eggman, as he does usually. "Time for Round 3! I bet you can't get through this!" Eggman announced, raising two pillars on both sides of their battlefield.

"I guess I was right. You're using the machines from this adventure. Have you run out of ideas?" Sonic mocked, with his usual grin on his face.

"No, I have not! Just you wait..these pillars will crush you, unlike the ones from last time!" Eggman shouted, as he hovered over to the far left side, next to the left pillar. A collection of vertical and horizontal pillars struck out from the ground, pillars and ceiling, all in formation that on paper, should work. But on paper, Sonic isn't accounted for, so what wasn't expected was that he would use the pillars rising as a way to get to the Egg Mobile. And truthfully, he did. "No! Don't do that!"

"Nah, I think I will." Sonic joked. He was truly enjoying every moment of this. As the evil mechanic hovered over to the middle of the battlefield, another formation of pillars arose. Sonic used his same tactic, just as Eggman was.

"Argh!" Eggman grunted. This whole procedure went on and on. Nothing changed, no new tactics were used, and therefore, Sonic landed himself another easy victory. "You...I'll make you pay!" And then just like that, he left the room once again.

"Too easy. That makes three wins for me. Woo!" Sonic cheered, as he departed into a third elevator.

The fourth and upteenth battle in the E.G.G Station took place in the most stretched out arena ever, much, much larger then the previous match. The layout appears to be exactly akin to the Mad Gear battle, in which Eggman threw bubble-like objects that released miniture, round versions of him and his Egg Mobile, in which Sonic had to dodge them, and while maintaining a good speed. Eggman appeared to have came in on the right side. "Ho-ho-ho! Just wait until you see what tricks I have here for you! Round 4, prepare to lose!" he bellowed, starting the fight. Throwing out some basic projectiles, Sonic easily managed to get a Homing Attack in. After throwing out the much more speedier variant, dodging was made a tad more trickier, but was still classed as 'easy'. Easy in Sonic's ratings, anyway, as the Egg Mobile went on the recieving end of another Homing Attack.

"Heh, you're not making this hard, are you?" Sonic mocked, poking more fun at his enemy's tactics.

"Just you wait and see!" Eggman retorted, throwing out of his Egg Mobile, a much larger version of the original bubble. A simple, well executed Spin Dash got past it, and another Homing Attack landed upon the hovering machine. "Take this!" He then dropped a Spike Ball, and threw out a regular bubble.

"Really?" Sonic rhetorically asked, simply jumping over the bubble and Spike Ball, and finishing off the fight with one more Homing Attack. "That makes four wins for me! What else ya got?" Without a word, the evil genius departed from the room, and Sonic proceeded further into the E.G.G Station.

Another Elevator took our hero to the final room. A dead end, but a Spring placed upon the floor. Using it to get on higher ground, Sonic found his nemesis entering a new robot, one that hadn't been used in this adventure so far, but had been in a previous one. "Ho-ho! Prepare to face the might of the new, E.G.G Station Robot!" Eggman announced, laughing hard, like any madman would.

"You really are mad! You think this will work!" Sonic smirked, as he got into a stance.

"I'll show you who's mad when I finish you off. And don't expect everything to go swimmingly!" Eggman replied, now focused on winning. He controlled the mech for it to move towards the blue hedgehog, but a Spin Jump from the target hit the shell of the mechanical creation. "No!"

"Yes!" Sonic replied. He then used another Spin Jump on the E.G.G Station Robot.

_Looks like I'll have to fly high in order to avoid that pesky 'hog. Hehehe...and then crush him!_, Eggman planned, as he pressed a button in the interior of the giant 'bot, which made it hover in the air. Sonic on the other hand, didn't know where it was going to land, which created a big problem. However, just as the Robot was going to land ontop of it's target, a timed Spin Dash assisted in the attack failing. "What? Impossible!"

"Looks like you're just a bit too slow!" Sonic grinned, as he launched two Homing Attacks upon the opposing side. This caused a repeat of the previous maneuver from both of them, except at one point, the E.G.G Station Robot launched it's two 'claws' at the hedgehog, which wasn't really effective, and it left the underside opened up for a Spin Jump attack. All of these tactics, abilities and tricks kept going on untill the giant mech took a certain amount of damage.

"Fine then Sonic, you leave me with no choice but to activate Beserk Mode!" Eggman barked, pressing a different button inside his robot.

Steam was released from every small orifice, and electrical sparks started shooting out of it, signalling that it had taken a fair amount of damage. However, when the button was pressed, a looped alert sound effect came from the E.G.G Station itself, and the robot started moving it's topside to and fro, until it gained control of itself. Then, it attempted to stomp Sonic, but the hedgehog was too fast for the Beserk E.G.G Station Robot. It made large leaps across the battlefield, all while attempting to squish the pesky hedgehog. Unfortunately, that dream never became a reality, as Spin Dashes were used to avoid the stomps. It then attempted to flatten him by flying up, akin to Eggman's previous technique, and just like every other attempt, it failed. After launching one of it's claw-like things like a rocket, in came falling down to the floor. Sonic then stuck the claw with a number of Homing Attacks, which eventually caused it to crash right into the E.G.G Station 'bot, making the black underside a much more easier target.

"Sweet! I got the weak spot!" Sonic celebrated, attacking the underside with two Homing Attacks. It didn't take long for the claw to become re-attached to the mecha. Like last time, the same moves and tactics were used, with Sonic getting in more hits then the robot ever could with such a speedy opponent. At various points, the 'bot tried to take his foe by surprise with a laser beam and various energy shots, but they all failed to meet their target. Every single time. At points, the stomping technique returned, but again, to no avail. It would never win.

After taking more damage, it was left at a critical state. More attacks to it's weakspot, and it would be destroyed. The only tactic left would be one that would self-destruct it, in a way. It hovered in the air, and Sonic patiently awaited for it to crash down, so the usual routine can continue. But only it appeared to be hovering at an incredible speed; one it had not displayed before. Just then, it dropped with all of it's weight, focusing on the floor. It caused a massive rumble of the flooring, but the E.G.G Station Robot left itself open for a final attack. Sonic took this chance, and finished the bot off with a final Homing Attack. Running as fast as he could, he zoomed for the right, in hopes of escaping. An opening was blown open, and then ended up with Sonic back in space. "Whoa! I'm falling for Mobius! Where's that rocket?!" Sonic asked himself, freaking out. He knew Tails or Luster couldn't see him from the ground, and even if they could, the Tornado can't be used. What is left for our hero?

Luckily, he noticed a red rocket, with a picture of two, yellow tails on it. It had four handles on it. _There it is!_ Sonic thought, as he tried to float his way over to it. Whilst having to avoid debris of the E.G.G Station as it was selfdestructing, it wasn't an easy job, but the task was eventually completed. A piece of metal did smack him in the side, but it appeared to have assisted in reaching the Tails Rocket. Once he was close to it, he grabbed onto one of the handles, and turned it on via a touch of a button. It started up, and Sonic aimed it for Mobius. He was returning home. After re-entering the atmosphere, the hedgehog found himself above Splash Hill, the first locale he had visited in this adventure. Tails and Luster were now in view, and it turns out that they were waiting for him. Once he approached the patched grass, Sonic activated the 'Easy Landing' mode, and it simply placed itself on the ground, with Sonic jumping off of it, Tails admiring his handiwork, and Luster hugging Sonic. "You're back!" Tails said, once Luster had let go.

"Yeah, I am. Boy, I tell ya, Eggman got a bit desperate with that last move. He destroyed the E.G.G Station just like he did with the Death Egg." Sonic noted, looking back up to the sky.

"So he did. You got the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked. Sonic nodded. "Good. Keep them, I wanna experiment with their power, see what I can do with them."

"Alright." Sonic said. "I think the guys here are happy I rescued their friends. Hang on, let me go with them."

Sonic sped towards a group of the animals that lived in Splash Hill, and did one of his many, iconic poses. Tails and Luster caught up with their speedy friend, and both smiled at the sight. "Sonic beat Eggy, didn't he?" Luster asked.

"Yep. He sure did." Tails answered. The animals that had gathered around Sonic started cheering loudly, with their hero asking them to quieten them down. They did.

"Alright Tails, Luster. Let's go home." Sonic said, signalling his two friends to follow them. The trio ran out of the Splash Hill, waving goodbye at their new found allies. Before long, the three were at their home in Mystic Ruins. Sonic went straight for the roof, exhausted at his work. He had fought Eggman five times, consecutively, with robots changing each time. It would tire out anyone, even the speediest hero. Inside the home, Luster went back to sleep, and Tails had obtained Sonic's Chaos Emeralds, and wanted to get to work with them. However, he decided it'd be a better idea to get some rest first, so he slid right into his bed, and drifted away (not literally).

The adventure is over, and how is Eggman to recover from such a failiure? Only time will tell. Maybe a new hero will be needed.


	10. Battling a Mystery Creation

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic the Hedgehog computer game franchise. All characters that originate from that series belong to SEGA. However, only I own Luster the Cat. Nobody else does. Furthermore, no thieves please.

**A/N: So, the **_**Sonic 4 Episode 1**_** story arc ended in the previous chapter, now time for some filler! I know everybody loves filler.**

The rising sun. It's such a beautiful thing to witness when you wake up in the morning. The Sun freshens your eyes, and instantly peps you up, makes you ready for the day's events. This is just what Tails the Fox experienced, upon waking up when the Sun was already awake itself. "Time for me to get to work." the yellow kitsune said, getting out of his bed. He rubbed his eyes, left the room, and entered the workshop portion of the home. He found the seven Chaos Emeralds, jewels containing an extremely powerful energy, all placed in little pods he designed for them. Tails left them on all night, so they could analyse the potential of such gems. When he looked up the findings in his computer, he found that they could be used to fuel pretty much anything. Planes, Mobians, anything. "I guess this explains how Sonic's Super Form is created. Sonic must absorb a large amount of energy from each Emerald, thus increasing his abilities by a very, very big amount. I wonder if I can attach them to the Tornado, to make it more durable, and faster." It was then that the blue hedgehog entered the workshop, as Tails was working on the Tornado, with the Red Chaos Emerald beside him.

"What's up, Tails? Working on the Tornado?" Sonic asked. He then noticed the Chaos Emerald. "What'cha doing with that Emerald?"

"Oh, hi Sonic. I discovered something about the Chaos Emeralds." Tails replied, pausing his work, and turning to his friend. "I found that they can also power machines, as well as you. See, they do exactly the same as they would with you. I'm figuring just one of them would increase the speed and durability of the Tornado tenfold, allowing it to be in space for longer. If so, then I won't be needing anything else for transport, as I can just depend on ONE Chaos Emerald! One isn't hard to find, no matter how hard they spread out."

"Huh. Didn't know they could do that. I guess that _will _help." Sonic agreed. "Why don't you get to work on that, whilst I go out for a run, and get us some berries for breakfast. I'm hungry. Taking Luster, too."

"Alright, see you guys later." Tails waved, as his buddy departed from the workshop.

Sonic the Hedgehog entered the bedroom of the Mystic Ruins Household that he is the owner of, only to find a young, light-blue coloured Cat, sitting on a bed. "Hey there, Luster! Wanna go out and get some food?" Sonic asked his young acquaintance.

"Yeah, okay!" Luster answered, jumping off of the bed, and standing up. The Six year old followed the eleven year old outside, and both sped into the Mystic Ruins Forest, the site where Sonic first learnt the handy Homing Attack technique. "What are we having?"

"Oh, I was thinking of berries. That cool?" Sonic replied.

"Okay, that's good." Luster answered, slowing down. This caused the blue hedgehog to slow down as well. Both stared at a plain bush, but Luster saw otherwise. He witnessed a pair of red, evil, bright eyes, staring right at him for a moment. Then, it disappeared.

"What'cha staring at, Luster?" Sonic questioned, staring in the same direction the cyan Cat was.

"Uh...I saw two red eyes...they were staring at me. It's gone." Luster explained.

"It was probably your mind playing tricks on you. Anyway, it's gone now. Let's fetch some berries for breakfast." Sonic noted, walking away, with Luster in tow. Upon walking, Sonic noticed a strange figure in the distance. Luster didn't, however, as he was focusing his mind on breakfast, and those strange, red eyes. After a short second, it disappeared. Instantly taking his mind off of the weird event, Luster's young and innocent self noticed a fairly decent group of berries that were hanging on a low tree.

"Hey Sonic, there are some berries here. We can have these for breakfast." Luster pointed out, pointing to said berries.

"Good spot, Luster! You're pretty good at looking for food in Forests!" Sonic praised, taking the berries. Just then, both males could hear a strange sound, one that sounded like energy. "What was that? Something odd's going on here. Come on, Luster, let's get home." He said, sticking out his hand, as to which Luster held onto it with his strongest grip. Then, Sonic sped right out of the Forest, and got back into the main part of the Mystic Ruins. Before long, the pair were at the front door of the abode, and were then inside, after a quick count of the berries. "Sweet, we got enough for a good meal for each of us, and for a small snack later."

"Alright! Let's go make some to eat!" Luster exclaimed.

"Sure. First, we gotta go ask Tails if he wants some. It wouldn't be nice if we didn't ask." Sonic explained, entering the workshop, with the young one following. Tails appeared to have the Chaos Emerald from earlier in his hand, as if he were to insert it into something. "Hey Tails. How's it going?"

"Hey, Sonic. I just installed a spot where Chaos Emeralds can be put in to, so it can be the source of power for the whole plane." Tails explained. "I had to take it apart a little, but it didn't really take long at all. How did your berry collecting go?"

"It went well, Tails. I found a lot of berries. You want some?" Luster asked.

"Okay, I'll have some." Tails answered. Sonic gave him a couple of berries, and the fox quickly consumed one. "Hey, it's actually pretty good. You two need to try it, seriously."

"Alright." Sonic said, eating one of the many berries he hand in his palm. He enjoyed it, and gave an extra one to Luster. "Here Luster, eat it. It's good!" The Cat nodded, and ate it.

"I like it! I found some good berries, huh?" Luster asked, in a happy manner.  
"You sure did." Sonic replied. Turning to Tails, he said, "I'm gonna save these for later, when we start to get a bit more hungry."

Tails nodded, and with that, Sonic and Luster left the workshop. "What are we gonna do now, Sonic?" Luster asked.

Sonic thought for a moment, and that's when he had an idea. "Let's go outside, I want to see something of yours." Sonic said, fast-walking outside. Luster followed him, and they both ended up standing in the middle section of the Mystic Ruins. "I kinda want to train you. See, there are times when you'll have to do things on your own, without any help from us. Those times are what this is for. You ready?"

"Okay, I understand. I'm ready." Luster said, nodding.

"Alright, punch with both your hands." Sonic commanded. Luster did so with his right hand first, then with his left. "Okay, now kick with both of your feet." Again, the trainee did what his mentor wanted. _He can actually punch and kick pretty well, and he can run pretty quickly. I think it's time for him to learn the Spin Dash._

"What now?" Luster asked, staring at Sonic, who appeared to be lost in thought

"I'm alright, thanks for asking. Anyway, I'm gonna teach you a move I use. It's called the Spin Dash. You know what it is?" Sonic replied.

"Yep. It's that thing you do when you turn into a circle, right?" Luster answered.

"Yeah. It gives you a big boost of speed. It will be useful." Sonic explained. "Just do what I do." Sonic crouched, as did Luster. "Now just put your hands on the ground, and pretend you're moving forwards, but instead moving around in a circle." Sonic ended up in the 'charging' Spin Dash state, and noticed that Luster was having difficulties. "Pretend you're a circle, and you're rolling."

"Okay." Luster said. In his mind, he was rolling. In reality, he almost was. However, after a few seconds, Luster was in a spherical-like ball shape, just as Sonic was.

"Now release, whilst still imagining that you are moving forwards." Sonic explained. Luster thought exactly what the blue hedgehog was telling him to think of, and eventually, let go. That created a short Spin Dash. "Well done! I'm surprised you got it on your first try, you must be a good learner." Sonic stated, after Luster got himself back up.

"Thank you. I'm gonna try again!" Luster thanked, as he launched another Spin Dash. This time, it went further. With each Spin Dash he did, another one followed.

_He's getting the hang of this. There must be something about him that allows him to be this good a student. I know I've never taught anyone anything, but still. Weird. _Sonic thought, as he witnessed the ever increasingly fast Spin Dashes that Luster was producing.

Just then, something very strong stuck Sonic right in the face, hard. Being sent back a bit, the blue 'hog found that the perpetrator looked very alike the odd figure he saw in the forest earlier. It appeared to be a robot, complete with lines that make up the various parts, and a pair of red 'eyes'. It had a similar body structure to Metal Sonic, a previous rival of Sonic's, but instead this bot was light-blue. "Whoa! What's your deal?" The robot didn't say a word. It flew towards Sonic at incredible speeds, and attempted to punch the hedgehog, but he got out of the way, only by a strain of his fur. "You're fast, but not as fast as I am!"

"Primary target located. Kill Sonic the Hedgehog." the robot stated. The stranger disappeared, then re-appeared infront of Sonic, and punched him once again. This shocked the blue hero, and sent him back a bit further then before. The mystery bot then found Luster staring at the scene, and as he did, it scanned the young cat. "Scanning...identified as Luster the Cat. Objective: Kill Sonic the Hedgehog, but leave Luster the Cat alone." Sonic then got himself standing firmly still, seemingly ready for whatever the robot had to throw at him.

"Say, you're strong. Who made you?" Sonic asked.

"Analysing...creator is Doctor Ivo Eggman." the robot answered. "Objective, kill Sonic the Hedgehog." It held out it's metallic hand, palm facing Sonic. All of a sudden, a strange, sphere of what looks similar to Chaos Energy appeared in it, and was now being fired directly towards him. More of these appeared, which made the Fastest Thing Alive dodge them all, each one the robot released.

"What is that?" Sonic asked. He didn't get an answer, only another punch in the back. Then, it started doing something peculiar. It held it's two 'hands' behind it's back, in like a cup formation. Similar to a V. A ball of blue stuff, which appeared to be the exact same substance that he used earlier to try and hit Sonic with. After a certain amount of time, it moved it's 'arms' to it's front, and fired it's attack. It was a blue energy-like beam-ish technique, that looked very familiar to Sonic, but unfamiliar to Luster, who was still watching the fight. Just as it got to him, Sonic simply moved out of the way. _I can dodge these...things...easily, but close range? I haven't got a chance. Oh, I got an idea. _The blue hedgehog decided to jump, and use a Homing Attack on the unsuspecting robot. But, unexpectedly, the robot blocked the Homing Attack, and threw Sonic towards a mound. Instinctively, the hedgehog jumped right off the mound, and used the force of jumping to use a Spin Dash in the air, aiming for his opponent. Just with the Homing Attack, an energy blast blocked the Spin Dash, and blew him away a little. "Alright, that didn't work...new plan." Sonic sped right around the robot, in hope of confusing it, and it seemed to have worked, but it just had to release an attack that spreads out in a wide range. Luster moved back a little, as it nearly got him, but Sonic got hit with the full force of the move. "Argh...okay, I'm out of ideas..."

"Sonic, want me to get Tails?" Luster asked.

"Yes! Please, get Tails and tell him to bring the Chaos Emeralds. I'll be needing them." Sonic replied, nodding.

"Okay!" Luster nodded. As Sonic was left to combat the evil robot, Luster was running towards the home, and went inside. Figuring that Tails would still be at work, the cat entered the workshop, and noticed Tails holding a screwdriver, and the Chaos Emerald from earlier was placed on the floor again. "Tails! Sonic needs help!"

"With what?" Tails asked, turning to the young one.

"He's fighting this evil robot. It's too strong for him, and he needs those things." Luster explained, pointing to the Chaos Emeralds.

"Hmm, okay. If he needs to go Super, then I will deliver." Tails said, releasing the other six Chaos Emeralds from their pods, and picking up the Red one from off the floor. "Here, could you hold three for me? I can't possibly hold all seven by myself."

"Okay!" Luster replied, now holding three of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Both of them departed from the house, and quickly made their way to the battlefield, where Sonic was taking a massive beating from the attacking robot. The blue hedgehog was on the floor, badly damaged, with the mystery attacker looming over the body, about to fire another energy blast. But then, the robot postponed it's final attack upon noticing the magical gems Luster and Tails were holding.

"Sonic! You okay?" Tails asked.

"Yeah...I'm fine..." Sonic croaked, trying to stand up.

"We got the Chaos Emeralds. We'll get them to you somehow!" Tails called over, trying not to shed a tear for his fallen friend.

"Good...anyway is fine..." Sonic moaned, standing up, but holding his arm with his other hand. The evil robot simply watched this scene unfold.

"I will finish my objective." it stated, punching Sonic so hard that the force sent him to his friends.

"Big mistake, whatever you are! Sonic's going to transform, and finish you off!" Tails intimidated. He gave his Chaos Emeralds to the near-unconscious hedgehog, and Luster did the same with his three.

Sonic flew up, with each of the seven Chaos Emeralds orbiting around him. Before long, a colossal, yellow aura sorrounded him, and all of his fur turned to a golden yellow. Arms, legs, body, head, and even his eyes turned to a bright red. Immense power flowed through Sonic's veins, power that nothing else in the world can equal. "Alright, time for round two!" Super Sonic bellowed, as he charged straight for the powerful robot. As it tried to fire another blue-energy wave, akin to the one used previously, Super Sonic disappeared behind the 'bot, and Spin Dashed right for it. However, it's sensors could easily indicate the immense power, and tried to block the Spin Dash with a punch, but the metallic arm ended up breaking off. "Hah!" However, just because one of it's arms were torn off, doesn't mean it's down for good. Another energy blast was fired, but Super Sonic the Hedgehog easily blocked it with a simple swatting away. As if it never happened, the golden hedgehog tore off the other arm of the robot, rendering it's energy attacks useless, and impossible to be used anymore. "So, what'cha got now? Can't beat the awesome power of the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Retreat, retreat. Killing Sonic the Hedgehog, mission complete chance...analysing...0%. Must retreat." the robot said, teleporting away. Super Sonic, unable to tell where it went, started flying around, in search of it. Eventually he caught a glimpse of his attacker at a mountainious region, but it appeared to disappear again, but in a slightly different fashion. A vortex of sparks shot around the robot, and just went away from sight. Most likely to never be seen again. However, Super Sonic wouldn't allow this, so he started to fly all across the world, looking for his foe. With his incredible speed, that was no hard task. No sightings of it came up anywhere, so the super hedgehog simply returned back to his friends in the Mystic Ruins, to deliver the good news.

"It must have retreated because it knew it wouldn't win against you, Sonic. But if you're saying it's nowhere, then that sure is strange." Tails added.

"There's one thing that bugged me about that fight." Super Sonic randomly inputted.

"What's that?" Tails asked, ignoring what he was talking about just a moment ago.

"Those energy attacks he used...aren't they similar to the moves that guy used, back in that adventure with our future selves?" Sonic, still Super, pointed out.

"Now that you mention it, they kinda do. That blue attack was much alike that K-whatever beam-wave-something that he used." Tails agreed, thinking.

"I guess the only way to find out is to wait until we meet up with that guy. I swear I remember him saying that we would encounter an evil robot at one point. Maybe this is what he meant?" Super Sonic added.

"Good point, Sonic. Very good point." Tails said. "I have no idea. I really can't remember. Like you said, we'll have to wait for that to be confirmed. But for now, let's go home."

"Alright. First, I gotta de-form." Super Sonic halted, as the yellow aura and fur removed his power, and the Chaos Emeralds flew up in the air, and dispersed back around Mobius, awaiting for their next use. Super Sonic turned back into regular Sonic. "Alright, let's go." As the trio started their short walk back home, Tails piped up with a question.

"Who built it, anyway?" Tails asked. Before Sonic could answer, Luster interjected him.

"It said Dr Eggman. Isn't he's that guy who you guys fight?" Luster answered.

"Yeah, he is." Sonic added. "It'd make sense he'd make that, but it was odd that it didn't want to attack Luster."

"It didn't? It probably was programmed to only finish you off, and then return back to it's creator. But I don't get why it wouldn't attack Luster. How strange. I'll have to have a long time thinking about it." Tails said, now thinking of the day's events so far. _Just who was that robot?_


End file.
